Rome, Ancient

Concept of Time

The era of kings and the early republic are the most poorly documented periods of Roman history. Historical writing by Romans did not occur until Rome had conquered all of Italy and Greece recognized Rome as a world power.

Greeks began to synchronize time in the 3rd century BCE. By charting Olympic Games and their victors in relation to the reigns of kings, a chronology was established. Two Alexandrian scholars, Eratosthenes and Apollodorus, continued and expanded this work through the middle of the 1st century BCE.

As Rome grew and expanded into the Republic, Hellenic synchronization of time changed to accommodate the Romans. The first Roman writer of chronography was Cornelius Nepos. He systematically attempted to place Roman events into the framework of Greek chronology. His Cbronica was written in the mid-50s BCE. Nepos synchronized events and people from Greek and Roman history. The foundation of the city of Rome, which had had a mythological beginning to this point, was calculated to have happened in the 2nd year of the seventh Olympiad (751 BCE). from this fixed point of reference, he assigned dates to past events. Later historians continued his work. Varro finished a work titled De Gente Populi Romani in 43 BCE; it quickly became the canon of chronology. Varro calculated the date for the founding of Rome as 754 BCE.

Establishing a Calendar

Romans numbered their years by labeling the founding of Rome by Romulus, the first king, as year 1. By today's reckoning, the date 753 BCE is used. Years were not numbered. Events were remembered by the names of the two consuls in charge of the state when the event occurred. This method was exceedingly cumbersome, because two consuls were elected each year, and some served more than once. The list of consuls was called the fasti consulates. The word fasti refers to the Roman calendar and almanac. The word evolved to refer to lists or registers that had to do with keeping time. The fasti diurni was a yearbook of religious ceremonies, market days, and court dates. Fasti dies were the days in which legal business could be transacted. The fasti would be posted in the Forum and other public areas. The word eventually came to be used generally to refer to annals or historical records. The poet Ovid wrote an epic work titled Fasti, using the months of the calendar as a frame to weave together Greek and Roman stories and events. There was a book for each month, but only the first six have survived. In Ovid's Fasti, festivals are described chronologically and traced to their legendary origins, in verse. While brilliantly written, the poem is also full of patriotism and flattery toward the imperial family.

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