a u c

 The Ancient Romans practically never used the ab urbe condita (A.U.C.) system to date stone inscriptions. [1, 2]

While a widespread modern myth suggests that A.U.C. was the standard calendar system of the Roman Empire, it was actually a literary convention used almost exclusively by historians (like Livy and Eutropius) in books to measure spans of time between historical events. For daily life, government business, and monumental stone inscriptions, the Romans dated their years by naming the ruling Consuls or tracking the regnal year of the Emperor. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

However, there are a few exceedingly rare exceptions where A.U.C. made it onto physical mediums in antiquity: [1, 2]

The Imperial Exceptions

• On Inscriptions: The most prominent official use of A.U.C. on monumental stone is found in the Fasti Capitolini (triumphal and consular lists carved into marble during the reign of Augustus, around 12 BC / 742 A.U.C.). This public inscription recorded the names of past magistrates and purposefully noted the A.U.C. year of every tenth anniversary to reinforce Augustus's program of cultural renewal. After the early imperial period, it virtually disappeared from stone inscriptions. [1, 2]
• On Coinage: The rarest physical intersection of A.U.C. and Roman numerals occurs under Emperor Hadrian on a famous gold aureus minted in AD 121. Celebrating Rome's 874th birthday, the coin features the explicit Roman numeral inscription: ANN DCCCLXXIIII NAT URB ("Year 874 from the birth of the City"), making it one of the absolute latest official public uses of the epoch by the ancient state.[1]

How Romans Actually Dated Inscriptions

If you look at thousands of surviving classical Latin inscriptions, you will see dates marked by:

1. Consular Dating: Writing the names of the two consuls in the ablative case (e.g., M. Messala M. Pisone consulibus — "When Marcus Messala and Marcus Piso were consuls"). This remained the legal format until Justinian phased out the consulate in AD 541. [1, 2, 3]
2. Tribunician Power (Tribunicia Potestate): Tracking how many years an Emperor had held supreme civil authority (abbreviated on inscriptions as TR POT or TR P followed by Roman numerals). [1]
3. Indiction Cycles: A 15-year tax cycle introduced in the late Empire (4th century AD) that became the primary way to mark years in Late Antiquity. [1, 2]

The Revival of A.U.C.

The ubiquitous pairing of "A.U.C." with Roman numerals for calendar dates is actually a product of Renaissance and 19th-century historians. Early modern editors added these numbers to the margins of classical texts to help readers keep track of the timeline, creating the false modern impression that ancient stone-cutters used the system regularly. [1]

If you are researching a specific inscription or coin, I can help you translate the Roman numerals or figure out the exact modern year it represents based on the names of the consuls listed. Would you like to look closer at a specific text?

so they would write 1 Rona founded xxx Romolo died? Give 20 examples

To understand how Roman historians actually wrote about time, it helps to know that they did not use a rigid calendar format like "1 A.U.C." or "38 A.U.C." in their running text. Instead, they wrote out the numbers as words within full Latin sentences, using phrasing like "in the [X]th year after the founding of the city."

Because A.U.C. was a literary system created by historians long after Rome was founded, they used it retrospectively to map out early history.

Here are 20 chronological examples of how famous ancient authors (like Livy, Eutropius, and Velleius Paterculus) or official Roman records structured these dates, showing how they connected the year of Rome to major historical events.

The Foundation and the Kings

• Year 1: "Rome was founded... in the third year of the sixth Olympiad." (Danyal of Halicarnassus — tracking the very first year).
• Year 38: "In the thirty-eighth year of his reign, Romulus disappeared from the earth." (Livy — referencing the death of the first king).
• Year 39: "Numa Pompilius was elected king in the thirty-ninth year from the founding of the city." (Livy — the start of the second reign).
• Year 82: "In the eighty-second year of the city, Tullus Hostilius succeeded to the throne." (Livy — the start of the third reign).
• Year 244: "In the two hundred and forty-fourth year from the founding of the city, the kings were expelled." (Eutropius — the birth of the Republic).

The Republic and Expansion

• Year 245: "In the two hundred and forty-fifth year of the city, the first Consuls were elected." (Livy — the start of consular dating).
• Year 360: "The Gauls captured and burned Rome in the three hundred and sixtieth year after its foundation." (Eutropius — the sack of Rome by Camillus's foes).
• Year 490: "The First Punic War against the Carthaginians began in the four hundred and ninetieth year of the city." (Eutropius — Rome enters world politics).
• Year 536: "Hannibal invaded Italy in the five hundred and thirty-sixth year from the foundation of the city." (Livy — the start of the Second Punic War).
• Year 606: "Carthage was utterly destroyed by Scipio Aemilianus in the six hundred and sixth year of the city." (Velleius Paterculus — the end of the Third Punic War).

The Late Republic and Civil Wars

• Year 621: "Tiberius Gracchus was slain in the six hundred and twenty-first year after the building of Rome." (Velleius Paterculus — the beginning of Roman political violence).
• Year 666: "The civil war between Marius and Sulla broke out in the six hundred and sixty-sixth year of the city." (Eutropius — the march on Rome).
• Year 691: "In the six hundred and ninety-first year from the founding of the city, Cicero exposed the conspiracy of Catiline." (Eutropius — Cicero's famous consulate).
• Year 705: "Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon and sparked the civil war in the seven hundred and fifth year of the city." (Eutropius — the fall of the Republic).
• Year 710: "In the seven hundred and tenth year of the city, Julius Caesar was assassinated in the Senate." (Eutropius — the Ides of March).

The Roman Empire

• Year 727: "Octavian was granted the title Augustus in the seven hundred and twenty-seventh year from the founding of the city." (Censorinus — the official start of the Roman Empire).
• Year 742: "In the seven hundred and forty-second year of the city, Augustus was elected Pontifex Maximus." (From the Fasti Capitolini inscription).
• Year 823: "The Emperor Vespasian dedicated the Temple of Peace in the eight hundred and twenty-third year of Rome." (Pliny the Elder — reconstruction after civil war).
• Year 874: "In the eight hundred and seventy-fourth year from the birth of the city, Hadrian celebrated the Parilia." (From the historical record of Emperor Hadrian's minting of the anniversary coin).
• Year 1000: "In the one thousandth year of the city, Emperor Philip the Arab celebrated the Secular Games with magnificent spectacles." (Eutropius — Rome's massive millennium celebration in AD 248).

If you want to see how a specific historical event or a year from your favorite period of history looks in this format, let me know! I can provide the exact Latin phrasing or show you how to calculate any modern BC/AD year into the Roman system.