AB Urbe Condita

AB Urbe Condita

“Ab urbe condita” (often shortened to “AUC”) is a Latin phrase meaning “from the founding of the city” and refers to the dating system used in ancient Rome. It was used to count the number of years since the traditional founding date of Rome in 753 BCE. This dating system was used by the Roman Republic and Roman Empire and was still in use during the time of Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century CE.

The AUC dating system was based on the traditional Roman calendar, which counted the years since the founding of Rome. It was not a solar or lunar calendar, but rather a “political calendar” whose years were based on the consulship. The consulship was the highest office in the Roman Republic and was held by two individuals who were elected to serve for one year.

The AUC dating system was used for official records and chronological documentation in ancient Rome, including historical and legal texts, inscriptions, and coinage. It was used throughout the Roman world and was the standard method of dating events in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire.

It is worth noting that AUC is not used as a standard dating system today, the current standard dating system is the Anno Domini (AD) which is based on the birth of Jesus Christ, and it was created by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century AD as a replacement for the AUC dating system.