AD and BC are probably the four most common letters in history and are divided by a momentous event in the history of mankind. Anno Domini system of numbering the years was developed by a monk named Dionysius Exiguus in 525 AD. This system came into use after the Roman Empire turned Christian and became popular during the reign of Charlemagne. It is generally believed that Dionysius Exiguus intended 1AD or 1 BC to correspond with DCCLIV (754) ab urbe condita, another system of numbering. According to Ab Urbe Condita, the counting started with the founding of the city of Rome in 753 BC or 1 ab urbe condita (AUC).
It is interesting therefore to look at the general correspondence of years between AUC and BC/AD system.
1 ab urbe condita = 753 BC
2 AUC = 752 BC
3 AUC = 751 BC
754 AUC = 1 AD
2753 AUC = 2000 AD
2764 AUC = 2011 AD
Ab Urbe Condita is also a monumental book in Latin on history of Rome. It starts from the founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus and continues till the reign of Emperor Augustus. This Latin name when translated into English literally means chapters since the founding of Rome. It is written by the great historian Titus livius, now commonly known as Livy. The book has 142 chapters of which only 45 with the preface survives today. The first few chapters of the book are so good that Livy be has become indispensable to any student of Golden-Age Latin.
Livy, one of the earliest historians, was born in 59 BC and died in 17 AD, 3 years after the death of Emperor Augustus. They are assumed to have been close to each other. Livia, the emperor’s wife and Livy belonged to the same clan though were not blood relatives. Emperor often joked about the leniency he showed towards Livy despite him being a sympathizer of republican form of government.
Livy has influenced Kings and philosophers alike by his writings. It is a part of the legend that he and his friend, Sulpicius Flavus waged a bet on seeing young Claudius in Library that the boy must be reading some trash only to discover later that Claudius was reading works of Livy himself. The young Claudius was tutored by Livy. He later became Emperor of Roman Empire and was also a historian of repute. Claudius was not the only one in public life to be influenced by Livy. The famous Italian philosopher and writer, Niccolo Machiavelli, though known more for his masterpiece “The Prince”, also wrote a more detailed treatise on political principles “Discourses on Livy”. Jean Jacques Rousseau, the famous French philosopher believes that these “Discourses on Livy” to be a better representative of true Machiavellian philosophy.
There is very little known about the personal life of Livy. He probably never saw a war and surely never participated in it. His works betray a meager understanding of military warfare. He however has great power of observation and also keen understanding of human psychology. He was a contemporary of the great Roman poet Ovid. They died in the same year. Once a man from Cadiz, Andalusia, legendary edges of the earth, came to Rome, just to see Livy and left satisfied after seeing him immediately, without bothering about other scenes and beauties of Rome.
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