H. Matzat, Römische Chronologie I (Berlin, 1883), 13–18. His argument rested on Dio Cassius 48.33.4 which mentions a leap day inserted in 41 BC, "contrary to the (i.e., Caesar's) rule", in order to avoid having a market day on the first day of 40 BC. Dio stated that this leap day was compensated for "later". Matzat proposed this was done by omitting a scheduled leap day in 40 BC, rather than by omitting a day from an ordinary year.
William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities:Year of Julius Caesar, following Ideler, interprets Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.14.13 (Latin) to mean that Caesar decreed that the first day of the new calendar began with the new moon which fell on the night of 1/2 January 45 BC.
The new moon was on 2 January 45 BC (in the Proleptic Julian calendar) at 00:21 UTC, according to IMCCE (a branch of the Paris Observatory): Phases of the moon (between −4000 and +2500)互联网档案馆的存檔，存档日期2011-07-20.. This is in agreement with the historical moon phase tables by Fred Espenak in which the new moon was on 2 January 45 BC at 00:43 UTC. Espenek's table assumes that the first Julian year of 45 BC was a leap year. If the first year of 45 BC was not a leap year, there would be a day offset, and the new moon would have been on 1 January 45 BC at 00:43 UTC.
Espnek's historical moon phase tables also indicate that there was a new moon on 1 March 45 BC at 08:39 UTC (Kalends of March), quarter moon on 8 March 45 BC at 09:00 UTC (a day after Nones of March), and full moon on 15 March 45 BC at 07:19 UTC (Ides of March). Espenak's tables of the phases of the moon are based on computational procedures described in Astronomical Algorithms by Jean Meeus (Willmann-Bell, Inc., Richmond, 1998).
More recent studies of the Macrobius manuscripts have shown that the word on which Idler's supposition is based, which was read as lunam, should be read as linam, meaning that Macrobius was simply stating that Caesar published an edict giving the revised calendar – see e.g., p.99 in the translation of Macrobius by P. Davies.
Smith gives no source or justification for his other speculation that Caesar originally intended to commence the year precisely with the winter solstice.
Gaius Julius Solinus, De mirabilibus mundi, c.3, available at [2].
W. Soltau, Römische Chronologie (Freiburg, 1889) 170–173. He accepted Matzat's phase of the triennial cycle but argued that it was absurd to suppose that Caesar would have made the second Julian year a leap year and that the 36 years had to be accounted from 45 BC.
Hartner, Willy. "The young Avestan and Babylonian calendars and the antecedents of precession." Journal for the History of Astronomy 10 (1979): 1. pp. 1–22. doi:10.1177/002182867901000102
For the list of triennial leap years proposed by Bünting, Christmann and Harriot, see Harriot's comparative table reproduced by Simon Cassidy (Fig. 6). The table numbers years as Julian years, where Julian year 1 = 45 BC. Thus, Scaliger and Clavius (col. 7) resume intercalation in Julian year 53 = AD 8, while Bünting (col. 8) and Harriot (col. 3) resume it in Julian year 49 = AD 4 and Christmann (col. 9) in year 52 = AD 7.
William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities:Year of Julius Caesar, following Ideler, interprets Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.14.13 (Latin) to mean that Caesar decreed that the first day of the new calendar began with the new moon which fell on the night of 1/2 January 45 BC.
The new moon was on 2 January 45 BC (in the Proleptic Julian calendar) at 00:21 UTC, according to IMCCE (a branch of the Paris Observatory): Phases of the moon (between −4000 and +2500)互联网档案馆的存檔，存档日期2011-07-20.. This is in agreement with the historical moon phase tables by Fred Espenak in which the new moon was on 2 January 45 BC at 00:43 UTC. Espenek's table assumes that the first Julian year of 45 BC was a leap year. If the first year of 45 BC was not a leap year, there would be a day offset, and the new moon would have been on 1 January 45 BC at 00:43 UTC.
Espnek's historical moon phase tables also indicate that there was a new moon on 1 March 45 BC at 08:39 UTC (Kalends of March), quarter moon on 8 March 45 BC at 09:00 UTC (a day after Nones of March), and full moon on 15 March 45 BC at 07:19 UTC (Ides of March). Espenak's tables of the phases of the moon are based on computational procedures described in Astronomical Algorithms by Jean Meeus (Willmann-Bell, Inc., Richmond, 1998).
More recent studies of the Macrobius manuscripts have shown that the word on which Idler's supposition is based, which was read as lunam, should be read as linam, meaning that Macrobius was simply stating that Caesar published an edict giving the revised calendar – see e.g., p.99 in the translation of Macrobius by P. Davies.
Smith gives no source or justification for his other speculation that Caesar originally intended to commence the year precisely with the winter solstice.
Parker, R. A. Ancient Egyptian Astronomy. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences. May 1974, 276 (1257): 51–65. JSTOR 74274.
William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities:Year of Julius Caesar, following Ideler, interprets Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.14.13 (Latin) to mean that Caesar decreed that the first day of the new calendar began with the new moon which fell on the night of 1/2 January 45 BC.
The new moon was on 2 January 45 BC (in the Proleptic Julian calendar) at 00:21 UTC, according to IMCCE (a branch of the Paris Observatory): Phases of the moon (between −4000 and +2500)互联网档案馆的存檔，存档日期2011-07-20.. This is in agreement with the historical moon phase tables by Fred Espenak in which the new moon was on 2 January 45 BC at 00:43 UTC. Espenek's table assumes that the first Julian year of 45 BC was a leap year. If the first year of 45 BC was not a leap year, there would be a day offset, and the new moon would have been on 1 January 45 BC at 00:43 UTC.
Espnek's historical moon phase tables also indicate that there was a new moon on 1 March 45 BC at 08:39 UTC (Kalends of March), quarter moon on 8 March 45 BC at 09:00 UTC (a day after Nones of March), and full moon on 15 March 45 BC at 07:19 UTC (Ides of March). Espenak's tables of the phases of the moon are based on computational procedures described in Astronomical Algorithms by Jean Meeus (Willmann-Bell, Inc., Richmond, 1998).
More recent studies of the Macrobius manuscripts have shown that the word on which Idler's supposition is based, which was read as lunam, should be read as linam, meaning that Macrobius was simply stating that Caesar published an edict giving the revised calendar – see e.g., p.99 in the translation of Macrobius by P. Davies.
Smith gives no source or justification for his other speculation that Caesar originally intended to commence the year precisely with the winter solstice.
Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.14.9 (Latin). Exceptionally, the extra day in April was inserted as the 26th, a.d. VI Kal. Mai. in the Julian calendar, in order to avoid adding a day to the Floralia, which ran from a.d. IV Kal. Mai. (27 April in the pre-Julian calendar) to a.d. V Non. Mai.
Dio Cassius 48.33.4, 60.24.7; C. J. Bennett, "The Imperial Nundinal Cycle", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 147 (2004) 175–179.
The Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus, 26.10, Loeb Classical Library vol. II, Harvard 1940, available at [4].
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, Life of Julius Caesar, 40.1, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard 1913, available at [5]Archive.today的存檔，存档日期2012-05-30.
Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, Saturnalia, 1.14.13–1.14.14, tr. Percival Vaughan Davies, New York 1969, Latin text at [7]
H. Matzat, Römische Chronologie I (Berlin, 1883), 13–18. His argument rested on Dio Cassius 48.33.4 which mentions a leap day inserted in 41 BC, "contrary to the (i.e., Caesar's) rule", in order to avoid having a market day on the first day of 40 BC. Dio stated that this leap day was compensated for "later". Matzat proposed this was done by omitting a scheduled leap day in 40 BC, rather than by omitting a day from an ordinary year.
William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities:Year of Julius Caesar, following Ideler, interprets Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.14.13 (Latin) to mean that Caesar decreed that the first day of the new calendar began with the new moon which fell on the night of 1/2 January 45 BC.
The new moon was on 2 January 45 BC (in the Proleptic Julian calendar) at 00:21 UTC, according to IMCCE (a branch of the Paris Observatory): Phases of the moon (between −4000 and +2500)互联网档案馆的存檔，存档日期2011-07-20.. This is in agreement with the historical moon phase tables by Fred Espenak in which the new moon was on 2 January 45 BC at 00:43 UTC. Espenek's table assumes that the first Julian year of 45 BC was a leap year. If the first year of 45 BC was not a leap year, there would be a day offset, and the new moon would have been on 1 January 45 BC at 00:43 UTC.
Espnek's historical moon phase tables also indicate that there was a new moon on 1 March 45 BC at 08:39 UTC (Kalends of March), quarter moon on 8 March 45 BC at 09:00 UTC (a day after Nones of March), and full moon on 15 March 45 BC at 07:19 UTC (Ides of March). Espenak's tables of the phases of the moon are based on computational procedures described in Astronomical Algorithms by Jean Meeus (Willmann-Bell, Inc., Richmond, 1998).
More recent studies of the Macrobius manuscripts have shown that the word on which Idler's supposition is based, which was read as lunam, should be read as linam, meaning that Macrobius was simply stating that Caesar published an edict giving the revised calendar – see e.g., p.99 in the translation of Macrobius by P. Davies.
Smith gives no source or justification for his other speculation that Caesar originally intended to commence the year precisely with the winter solstice.
C. J. Bennett, "The Early Augustan Calendars in Rome and Egypt", Zeitschrift fűr Papyrologie und Epigraphik 142 (2003) 221–240 and "The Early Augustan Calendars in Rome and Egypt: Addenda et Corrigenda", Zeitschrift fűr Papyrologie und Epigraphik 147 (2004) 165–168; see also Chris Bennett, A.U.C. 730 = 24 B.C. (Egyptian papyrus).
