23 BC
Encyclopedia
Year 23 BC was either a common year starting on Saturday
or Sunday
or a leap year starting on Friday
, Saturday
or Sunday
(link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar
(the sources differ, see leap year error for further information) and a common year starting on Friday
of the Proleptic Julian calendar
. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Varro (or, less frequently, year 731 Ab urbe condita
). The denomination 23 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.
Common year starting on Saturday
This is the calendar for any common year starting on Saturday, January 1 . Examples: Gregorian years 1994, 2005, 2011 and 2022...
or Sunday
Common year starting on Sunday
This is the calendar for any common year starting on Sunday, January 1 or for any year in which “Doomsday” is Tuesday. Examples: Gregorian years 1989, 1995, 2006, 2017 and 2023or Julian year 1917...
or a leap year starting on Friday
Leap year starting on Friday
This is the calendar for any leap year starting on Friday, January 1 , such as 1932, 1960, 1988, 2016 or 2044.Previous year | Next yearMillenniumCenturyYear2nd Millennium:18th century:17681796...
, Saturday
Leap year starting on Saturday
This is the calendar for any leap year starting on Saturday, January 1 , such as 1972, 2000, 2028 or 2056.Previous year | Next year-Trivia:...
or Sunday
Leap year starting on Sunday
This is the calendar for any leap year starting on Sunday, January 1 , such as 1956, 1984, 2012, 2040, or 2068.This is the only leap year with three occurrences of Friday the 13th, each three months apart in January, April, and July....
(link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar began in 45 BC as a reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year .The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months...
(the sources differ, see leap year error for further information) and a common year starting on Friday
Common year starting on Friday
This is the calendar for any common year starting on Friday, January 1 . Examples: Gregorian years 1993, 1999, 2010 and 2021or Julian years 1910 and 1899 ....
of the Proleptic Julian calendar
Proleptic Julian calendar
The proleptic Julian calendar is produced by extending the Julian calendar to dates preceding AD 4 when its quadrennial leap year stabilized. The leap years actually observed between its official implementation in 45 BC and AD 4 were erratic, see the Julian calendar article for details.A calendar...
. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Varro (or, less frequently, year 731 Ab urbe condita
Ab urbe condita
Ab urbe condita is Latin for "from the founding of the City ", traditionally set in 753 BC. AUC is a year-numbering system used by some ancient Roman historians to identify particular Roman years...
). The denomination 23 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini
Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
calendar era
Calendar era
A calendar era is the year numbering system used by a calendar. For example, the Gregorian calendar numbers its years in the Western Christian era . The instant, date, or year from which time is marked is called the epoch of the era...
became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Roman Empire
- Caesar AugustusAugustusAugustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
becomes Roman Consul for the eleventh time. His partner is Aulus Terentius Varro MurenaAulus Terentius Varro MurenaAulus Terentius Varro Murena was a Roman general and politician of the 1st Century BC.- Biography :Murena was the natural born son of Aulus Terentius Varro, and adopted brother to Lucius Lucinius Varro Murena...
. - Augustus relinquishes the position of consulConsulConsul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
, retains that of tribuneTribuneTribune was a title shared by elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. They were sacrosanct, in the sense that any assault on their person was...
of Rome and assumes that of PrincepsPrincepsPrinceps is a Latin word meaning "first in time or order; the first, chief, the most eminent, distinguished, or noble; the first man, first person."...
, or "First Citizen." (see Roman EmpireRoman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
). - Augustus gets seriously ill: he gives Agrippa his signet ring and grants him the title imperium pro consule.
- The NubiaNubiaNubia is a region along the Nile river, which is located in northern Sudan and southern Egypt.There were a number of small Nubian kingdoms throughout the Middle Ages, the last of which collapsed in 1504, when Nubia became divided between Egypt and the Sennar sultanate resulting in the Arabization...
ns, led by queen Candace AmanirenasAmanishabhetoAmanishabheto [also Amanishakheto] was Kandake of Kush from 10BC to 1AD. She succeeded the Candace Amanirenas. Amanishakheto was Crown Princess for several years before she became Kandake. When the Roman Emperor Augustus attempted to conquer Nubia, she fought the Roman Army in three battles from...
, take the initiative against the Roman EmpireRoman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, and attack the Roman provinceRoman provinceIn Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...
of Egypt moving towards ElephantineElephantineElephantine is an island in the River Nile, located just downstream of the First Cataract at the southern border of Ancient Egypt. This region is referred to as Upper Egypt because the land is higher than that near the Mediterranean coast. The island may have received its name because it was a...
. - Herod the GreatHerod the GreatHerod , also known as Herod the Great , was a Roman client king of Judea. His epithet of "the Great" is widely disputed as he is described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis." He is also known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his...
builds a palace in Jerusalem and the fortressFortificationFortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
HerodianHerodianHerodian or Herodianus of Syria was a minor Roman civil servant who wrote a colourful history in Greek titled History of the Empire from the Death of Marcus in eight books covering the years 180 to 238. His work is not entirely reliable although his relatively unbiased account of Elagabalus is...
in JudaeaJudeaJudea or Judæa was the name of the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel from the 8th century BCE to the 2nd century CE, when Roman Judea was renamed Syria Palaestina following the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt.-Etymology:The...
. He also marries his third wife, named MariamneMariamne (third wife of Herod)Mariamne II was the third wife of Herod the Great. She was the daughter of Simon Boethus the High Priest. Josephus recounts their wedding thus:...
, the daughter of high priest Simon. - Following coinage reform, the asAs (coin)The , also assarius was a bronze, and later copper, coin used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire.- Republican era coinage :...
was struck in reddish pure copperCopperCopper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, instead of bronzeBronzeBronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
. The denominations of sestertiusSestertiusThe sestertius, or sesterce, was an ancient Roman coin. During the Roman Republic it was a small, silver coin issued only on rare occasions...
and dupondiusDupondiusThe dupondius was a brass coin used during the Roman Empire and Roman Republic valued at 2 asses ....
were introduced as large bronze coinCoinA coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....
s. - In response to MeroeMeroëMeroë Meroitic: Medewi or Bedewi; Arabic: and Meruwi) is an ancient city on the east bank of the Nile about 6 km north-east of the Kabushiya station near Shendi, Sudan, approximately 200 km north-east of Khartoum. Near the site are a group of villages called Bagrawiyah...
's incursions into Upper EgyptUpper EgyptUpper Egypt is the strip of land, on both sides of the Nile valley, that extends from the cataract boundaries of modern-day Aswan north to the area between El-Ayait and Zawyet Dahshur . The northern section of Upper Egypt, between El-Ayait and Sohag is sometimes known as Middle Egypt...
, the Roman legions move south and raze NapataNapataNapata was a city-state of ancient Nubia on the west bank of the Nile River, at the site of modern Karima, Northern Sudan.During the 8th to 7th centuries BC, Napata was the capital of the Nubian kingdom of Kush, whence the 25th, or Nubian Dynasty conquered Egypt...
. (Early history of Sudan).
Architecture
- The Roman writer, architect and engineer VitruviusVitruviusMarcus Vitruvius Pollio was a Roman writer, architect and engineer, active in the 1st century BC. He is best known as the author of the multi-volume work De Architectura ....
finishes writing De Architectura (known today as The Ten Books of Architecture), a treatise in LatinLatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
on architectureArchitectureArchitecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
, and perhaps the first work about this discipline.
Births
- Dong XianDong XianDong Xian was a Han Dynasty politician who quickly rose from obscurity as a minor official to being the most powerful official in the imperial administration of Emperor Ai within a span of a few years....
(d. 1 BC1 BCYear 1 BC was a common year starting on Friday or Saturday of the Julian calendar and a leap year starting on Thursday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
) - Herod ArchelausHerod ArchelausHerod Archelaus was the ethnarch of Samaria, Judea, and Idumea from 4 BC to 6 AD. He was the son of Herod the Great and Malthace the Samaritan, the brother of Herod Antipas, and the half-brother of Herod Philip I....
, ethnarchEthnarchEthnarch, pronounced , the anglicized form of ethnarches refers generally to political leadership over a common ethnic group or homogeneous kingdom. The word is derived from the Greek words and ....
of SamariaSamariaSamaria, or the Shomron is a term used for a mountainous region roughly corresponding to the northern part of the West Bank.- Etymology :...
(JudeaJudeaJudea or Judæa was the name of the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel from the 8th century BCE to the 2nd century CE, when Roman Judea was renamed Syria Palaestina following the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt.-Etymology:The...
) (d. AD 1818Year 18 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Caesar...
)
Deaths
- Marcus Claudius MarcellusMarcus Claudius Marcellus (Julio-Claudian dynasty)Marcus Claudius Marcellus was the eldest son of Octavia Minor, sister of Augustus, and Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor, a former consul...
, son of OctaviaOctavia MinorOctavia the Younger , also known as Octavia Minor or simply Octavia, was the sister of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus , half-sister of Octavia the Elder, and fourth wife of Mark Antony...
and nephew of AugustusAugustusAugustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
(b. 42 BC42 BCYear 42 BC was either a common year starting on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar and a common year starting on Tuesday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
)