Suvarna Garge (Editor)

46 BC

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit

Year 46 BC was the last year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caesar and Lepidus (or, less frequently, year 708 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 46 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. This year marks the change from the Numan calendar to the Julian calendar. The Romans had to periodically add a leap month every few years to keep the calendar year in sync with the solar year but had missed a few with the chaos of the civil wars of the late republic. Julius Caesar added two extra leap months to recalibrate the calendar in preparation for his calendar reform, which went into effect in 45 BC. This year therefore had 445 days, and was nicknamed annus confusionis ("year of confusion").

Contents

Roman Republic

  • Consuls: Gaius Julius Caesar, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus
  • Civil War:
  • January 4 – Titus Labienus bloodily defeats Julius Caesar in the Battle of Ruspina.
  • April 6 – Julius Caesar defeats the combined army of Pompeian followers and Numidians under Metellus Scipio and Juba I of Numidia at Thapsus. After the battle Caesar grants Legio V Alaudae the right to bear the elephant symbol on its shields and standards, for bravery against a charge of elephants.
  • April 20 – Cicero, in Rome, writes to Varro "If our voices are no longer heard in the Senate and in the Forum, let us follow the example of the ancient sages and serve our country through our writings, concentrating on questions of ethics and constitutional law."
  • Caesar's erstwhile mistress, Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt, and his son by her, Caesarion, taken up residence in one of the dictator's estates on the Tiber.
  • September 26 – Julius Caesar dedicates a temple to his mythical ancestor Venus Genetrix in fulfillment of a vow he made at the battle of Pharsalus.
  • November – Caesar leaves for Hispania to deal with a fresh outbreak of resistance.
  • Caesar reforms the Roman calendar to create the Julian calendar. The transitional year is extended to 445 days to synchronize the new calendar and the seasonal cycle. The Julian Calendar would remain the standard in the western world for over 1600 years, until superseded by the Gregorian Calendar in 1582.
  • Caesar appoints his nephew Octavian his heir.
  • Caesar subdues a mutiny of his Tenth Legion.
  • Caesar celebrates his Gallic Triumph, after which Vercingetorix is executed. The celebrations for forty days in Rome, included public banquets, plays and gladiatorial games.
  • Vitruvius described Etruscan and Roman architecture.

    • Births

  • Antipater (son of Herod the Great) (d. 4 BC)
  • Publius Quinctilius Varus, Roman politician and general (d. 9 AD)
  • Lucius Seius Strabo, Roman prefect of the Praetorian Guard (d. AD 16)

    • Deaths

  • April 12 - Marcus Porcius Cato, the younger commits suicide after the battle of Thapsus (b. 95 BC)
  • Metellus Scipio (Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Cornelianus Scipio Nasica) killed at the battle of Thapsus while his forces attempt to surrender (b. c. 100 BC or 98 BC)
  • Vercingetorix, Gaul leader (b. 82 BC)
  • Marcus Petreius (b. 110 BC)

    • References

    46 BC Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA