The Roman calendar was the system the Romans used to count the year before the Julian reform. Tradition ascribed the first calendar to Romulus, with ten months running from March to December, and said that King Numa Pompilius added January and February to make a year of 355 days. An extra month was inserted from time to time by the priests, the pontiffs, but they sometimes manipulated it for political reasons, so that by the time of Julius Caesar the calendar was months out of step with the seasons. Caesar, advised by the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria, introduced the Julian calendar of 365 days with a leap day every fourth year, and the year 46 BCE lasted 445 days. The Julian calendar was the basis of the later Gregorian calendar.
Before and after
- from c. 776 BCE to 500 CEAncient Olympic Games
- from c. 771 BCE to 476 BCESpring and Autumn period
- c. 754 BCERomulus founds Rome (traditional date)
- from c. 753 BCE to 476 CEAncient Rome
- from 753 BCE to 46 BCERoman calendar
- from c. 753 BCE to 509 BCERoman Kingdom
- 21 April 753 BCEFounding of Rome
- from c. 750s BCE to 530sGandhara
- c. 750s BCEThe Homeric epics are composed
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 499 BCE to 449 BCEGreco-Persian Wars
- from 431 BCE to 404 BCEPeloponnesian War
- from 218 BCE to 201 BCESecond Punic War
- 217 BCEHannibal destroys the Roman army at Cannae
- from 59 BCE to 51 BCECaesar begins the conquest of Gaul
- 43 CERome invades Britain
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 8th century BCE.