Featured 46 BC, The Longest Year

As we come to the end of 2019, and welcome in the New Year, it seems appropriate to reflect on time and the calendar. I photographed this clock in the old town square in Prague a few years ago. The clock dates from 1410 and was made by Mikuláš of Kadaň, clockmaker and Jan Šindel, astronomer and mathematician. It is an amazing work of art and science. In addition to the time, the clock shows the relative positions of the sun, moon, and constellations of the zodiac. It is the oldest working astronomical clock.

It takes about 365.2422 days for the Earth to revolve around the sun, not something that has always been well reflected in the calendar. The calendar of the Roman Republic fell short more than 10 days each year which meant that the seasons drifted against the calendar. The years were periodically reconciled with the addition of a “mensis intercalaris” – a.k.a. Mercedonius from merces for wages - although it was not systematically applied, and even used by the pontifex maximus for political reasons.

For not only in very ancient times was the relation of the lunar to the solar year in great confusion among the Romans, so that the sacrificial feasts and festivals, diverging gradually, at last fell in opposite seasons of the year, but also at this time people generally had no way of computing the actual solar year;
-Plutarch (late 1st century - early 2nd AD) The Life of Julius Caesar 59.2​

Ovid, in the first book of Fasti describes the New Year in Rome. January first starts the new year and the month is named for Janus who can see both ahead and behind. The Kalends was the first day of the month.

KALENDS IAN. 1st: See Janus comes, Germanicus, the herald of a lucky year to thee, and in my song takes precedence. Two-headed Janus, opener of the softly gliding year, thou who alone of the celestials dost behold thy back, O come propitious to the chiefs whose toil ensures peace to the fruitful earth, peace to the sea.
-Ovid (published 8 AD) Fasti Book 1.63​

Ovid goes on to have a conversation with Janus asking questions about various New Year’s traditions – worth a visit to the link above. I am intrigued by the sky sparkling with fragrant fires, and Cilician saffron crackling on kindled hearths. Also interesting to note that January 1 was a workday for the Romans, "assigned the birthday of the year to business, lest from the auspice idleness infects the whole".

Roman Republican Didrachm or Quadrigatus 225-212 BC 6.4g, 22mm
Obv: Laureate head of Janus.
Rev: Jupiter, holding sceptre and thunderbolt, in quadriga driven by Victory; incuse ROMA on raised rectangle.

In 46 BC - the calendar was off by 90 days. Julius Caesar was exposed to more functional calendar systems in Egypt and one of his enduring changes was the Julian calendar, only slightly adjusted as the Gregorian calendar that we use today. From 46 BCE, The Julian calendar added days to the months to get to 365 days in the year and created the leap year every 4 years to stay aligned with the sun.

Caesar laid the problem before the best philosophers and mathematicians, and out of the methods of correction which were already at hand compounded one of his own which was more accurate than any. This the Romans use down to the present time, and are thought to be less in error than other peoples as regards the inequality between the lunar and solar years.
-Plutarch The Life of Julius Caesar 59.5​

The Julian calendar was still in use when Mikuláš of Kadaň and Jan Šindel built their clock in 1410. However, the calendar was running fast by 11 min and 14 seconds a year, which by AD 1582 had become 10 days and needed adjustment by Pope Gregory and Christopher Clavius, a Jesuit astronomer. There was a 3 day discrepancy every 400 years, they adjusted the leap days put in place by Julius Caesar and Sosigenes of Alexandria, to have leap days in years ending in 00 only if they are divisible by 400 (eliminating 3 leap years every 400 years) – he also took 10 days out of October 1582 by jumping from the 4th to the 15th. Pope Gregory’s calendar took a while to be adopted – the British Empire didn’t adopt it until the 18th century.

The calendar that Sosigenes and Caesar created aligned against the backdrop of the stars.

Between the winter solstice and the period when the west winds begin to prevail, the following, according to Caesar, are the more important signs afforded by the constellations: the Dog sets in the morning, upon the third day before the calends of January; a day on the evening of which the Eagle sets to the people of Attica and the adjoining countries. On the day before the nones of January, according to Caesar's computation, the Dolphin rises in the morning, and on the next day, the Lyre, upon the evening of which the Arrow sets to the people of Egypt.
-Pliny the Elder (1st Century AD), Natural History, 18.64​

Julius Caesar had to add 90 days as 3 intercalary months to the year 46 BCE – to realign – making the year 46 BC, 445 days long – the longest year.

Caesar therefore began the new arrangement of the calendar by using up all the days which could still have caused confusion, with the result that the last of the years of uncertainty was prolonged to one of four hundred and forty-three days. Then, copying the Egyptians – the only people who fully understood the principles of astronomy – he endeavored to arrange the year to conform to the duration of the course of the sun, which it takes three hundred and sixty-five days and a quarter to complete.
-Macrobius (5th century AD) Saturnalia XIV​

Macrobius seems to have made a 2 day math error and 445 is accepted based on other sources including Censorinus – who describes in this way Caesar's correction of the calendar in 46 BC.

The confusion was such that Caius (Julius) Cæsar, sovereign-pontiff, resolved in his third consulate and that of M. Emilius Lepidus to destroy the effects of past abuses by placing between the months of November and December, two intercalary months of 67 days, although he had already intercalated 23 days in the month of February, which gave 445 days to that year; and at the same time to prevent the return of similar errors, he suppressed the intercalary month, and established the civil year after the course of the sun.
-Censorinus (3rd century AD) De Die Natali XX​

Given this large shift it is surprising how little comment there is about difficulty with new calendar – perhaps that is because the Roman economy already found the calendar an unreliable and inconvenient tool. I suspect that today we would find a 445 day year a little more disruptive. Plutarch does relate that some were irritated:

"However, even this furnished occasion for blame to those who envied Caesar and disliked his power. At any rate, Cicero the orator, we are told, when some one remarked that Lyra would rise on the morrow, said: "Yes, by decree," implying that men were compelled to accept even this dispensation."
-Plutarch The Life of Caesar 59.6
​

Here are three Roman Republican denarii from the longest year, 46 BC.

Mn. Cordius Rufus, c. 46 BC, AR Denarius, Rome mint
Obv: RVFVS IIIVIR, Conjoined heads of the Dioscuri right, wearing filleted pilei surmounted by stars
Rev: MN CORDI downwards (mostly off-flan), Venus Verticordia standing left, holding scales and scepter; Cupid on her shoulder
Ref: Crawford 463/1b; Sear, CRI 63a; Cordia 1

Mn. Cordius Rufus, c. 46 BC, AR denarius, Rome mint
Obv: RVFVS Corinthian helmet with crest, owl standing above / MN CORDIVS
Rev: Aegis of Minerva, head of Medusa at center
Ref: Cordia 4; Syd. 978; C463/2

T. Carisius, c. 46 BC, AR Denarius, Rome mint
Obv: Diademed and winged bust of Victory right, S.C. behind, wearing earring and necklace; jeweled hair pulled into knot
Rev: T. CARISI in exergue, Victory driving galloping biga right, holding reins and wreath
Ref: Crawford 464/4; CRI 72; Sydenham 986

As always, comments and corrections are appreciated. Best Wishes for a Happy New Year! Share anything related to new years, coins and calendars, or otherwise interesting or entertaining.

 

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Nothing to share other than admiration for a fascinating topic I knew nothing about before entering this thread. Also, that verse by Ovid is remarkable. I must add him to the year's reading list!

 

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Very interesting. Thank you for sharing.

Happy New Year ... Happy New Decade! Cheers to 2020!

 

What a great summary of the origins of the Julian calendar! Thanks so much!!

 

Yes, excellent write up...things we take for granted, but they had to figure out back in the day...love that clock!

 

Thank you for the write up. I did not realize the difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendar until this post motivated me to do a little research. Gregorian leap year in 2000 and 1600 but not in 1700, 1800, 1900. HNY!

 

Here’s my T. Carisius

 

I enjoyed the great write up and coins, @Sulla80 . I was aware of the big calendar changes Caesar made using the Egyptian model. But, I was not aware that it was an extra 90 days! I imagine New Years Eve into 45 BCE must had been a doozy of a celebration!!!

 

Janus-uary


RR Anon AR Heavy Quinarius / Drachm / Half Quadrigatus 225-212 BCE 3.1g 18mm Janus dotted border Jupiter in Quadriga LEFT Victory ROMA Cr 28-4 S 35 SCARCE

 

Gnaeus Pompey Junior. Ar Denarius 46-45 B.C. Obv. Helmeted head of Roma right. Rv. Hispania standing right presenting palm branch to Pompey. CRI 48 3.90 grms 18mm

 

Great writeup!

One interesting thing I have never heard discussed is how to treat the dates prior to the great adjustment of 46 BC. We have specific dates for many events... are those dates inaccurate by as much as several months? While I understand the concept and methodology for converting old calendars to the current BC/AD model, the number of factors to consider is staggering - such as 46 BC being so long that it required an extra two months to catch back up, and various other adjustments prior to that, which may or may not be accounted for in the ancient sources.

I suppose that is why after the BC/AD chronology was calculated in the middle ages, a discrepancy of about 4-7 years was found, namely that Herod the Great died years before originally calculated, yet the Bible explicitly states that he was alive when Jesus was a toddler.

Anyway, my only Janus coin:


And a Cordius Rufus denarius from that year


Happy new year everyone!

 

Thanks for the excellent post! There was a lot there I didn’t know about, though I did recognise the Prague astronomical clock from a YouTube video about clock towers that my son used to watch endlessly. Have a great new year!


ROMAN REPUBLIC
AR Denarius. 3.82g, 18.8mm. Rome mint, 46 BC, Mn. Cordius Rufus, moneyer. Crawford 463/2; Sydenham 978. O: Crested Corinthian helmet right, surmounted by owl, RVFVS to left. R: Aegis of Minerva decorated with facing head of Medusa in center, MN CORDIVS around.

 

Happy New Year everyone! Here are some 46ers.

Phil Davis

 

Ah janus, the coolest looking god of mythology

 

Well presented. Thank you. It would be very difficult to replay the calendar changes of 46BC today.

 

Sulla80, This is a fascinating article with excellent illustrations ! Other CT members have added extra weight to the article by posting beautiful coins relating to the subject.

 

Great post for an interesting year. That Julian Calendar was great, then the Gregorian calendar came along and made things confusing for genealogists...but we seem to be on the right track now.

I have two of the chariot types for T. Carisius from 46 B.C. These often appear to have been hastily struck - like mine:



Roman Republic Denarius
T. Carisius
(46 B.C.) - Rome Mint
Winged bust of Victory right/ Victory in biga rt., holding reins and wreath; in exergue, T. CARISI
Carisia 2; Crawford 464/4.
(3.57 grams / 20 mm)

Roman Republic Denarius
T. Carisius
(46 B.C.) - Rome Mint
Draped and winged bust of Victory right; SC behind / Victory driving quadriga right, holding wreath and reins, T CARISI in exergue.
Carisia 3; Crawford 464/5.
(3.25 grams / 19 mm)

 

Fabulous post and explanations

A 46 BCE denarius :


Julius Caesar, Denarius - North Africa, 46 BCE
COS TERT / DICT ITER, head of Ceres right
AVGVR / PONT MAX, simpulum, sprinkler, capis and lituum, D in right field
3,81 gr
Ref : HCRI # 57, RCV # 1403/1, RSC # 4a, Cohen # 4

Q

 

T. CARISIUS ROMAN REPUBLIC
AR Denarius
OBVERSE: Head of the Aphrodisian Sibyl right, back hair in sling
REVERSE: T. CARISIVS above sphinx sitting right; III.VIR below
Rome 46 BC
19mm, 3.49 g
Cr464/1; Syd 983a; Carisia 11
ex. Doug Smith Collection

 

Thanks all for sharing great examples of coins of Janus and 46 BC.

A good question - the conversion I've used for Roman dates to convert A.U.C. (ab urbe condita) to modern dates is overly simple: subtract 753 for AD years or 754 for BC years. This clearly doesn't get precise with days and months that could be very differently aligned to the solar year, and mapping to day of the month even more complicated. Here's what Smith says in A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities:

"It is extremely difficult, or rather quite impossible, to determine the actual dates, which correspond to the nominal dates of any events before the Julian reform of the calendar, especially after the irregularities introduced by the lex Acilia."
-William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities Vol 1 p343 3rd edition 1901​

I hadn't considered this, but George Washington's birthday a good illustration, we celebrate on February 22, 1731 (Gregorian date) but when he was born it was called February 11 (Julian date) [Ref].

Happy New Year!