ROMAN MATH CULTURE

Understanding Roman Dates

A Journey Through October, Anno DCCXIV A.U.C. and Beyond

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Ah, Roman dates. The kind of notation that whispers cryptically from the shadows of history — the same way a knife might whisper across a throat. Let’s dissect this one, shall we?

October, Anno DCCXIV Ab Urbe Condita (A.U.C.), roughly translates to October in the 714th year from the founding of Rome. Rome, that eternal city, founded by fratricidal hands. Everything begins in blood, after all.

The term “Ab Urbe Condita,” meaning “from the founding of the city,” is the Roman version of counting years since their own self-made Genesis. The word “Anno” simply means “year” in Latin, used to denote the specific year being referenced.

The year 714 A.U.C.? That makes it about 30 BCE in our more commonplace modern dating — a year full of betrayal, ambition, and the cold clasp of defeat for one Cleopatra.

To read such dates, you need to decode the numerals: DCCXIV, for instance, breaks down into…