eclipse Romanastronomy

Roman history is less replete with references to eclipses than that of Greece, but there are several interesting allusions to these events in Roman writings. Some, like the total solar eclipse said by Dio Cassius, a Roman historian of the 3rd century ad, to have occurred at the time of the funeral of Agrippina the Younger, the mother of the Roman emperor Nero, never took place. An eclipse of the Sun recorded by the historian Livy (64/59 bc–ad 17) in a year corresponding to 190 bc is of interest to students of astronomy and of the Roman calendar alike. Although Livy notes that the event happened in early July, the calculated date is March 14. Consequently, the Roman calendar in that year must have been more than three months out of adjustment.

What may well be an indirect allusion to a total eclipse of the Sun is recorded by Livy for a time corresponding to 188–187 bc (the consulship of Valerius Messala and Livius Salinator during the Roman Republic [see Roman Republic and Empire]):

Before the new magistrates departed for their provinces, a three-day period of prayer was proclaimed in the name of the College of Decemvirs at all the street-corner shrines because in the daytime, between about the third and fourth hours, darkness had covered everything.

The darkness took place some time after the election of the consuls (Ides of March), and, allowing for the confusion of the Roman calendar at this time, the total eclipse of July 17, 188 bc, would be the most satisfactory explanation for the unusual morning darkness. Since the Sun is not mentioned in the text, the phenomenon possibly occurred on a cloudy day.

The total eclipse of the Moon on the evening of June 21, 168 bc, has attracted much attention. This event occurred shortly before the defeat of Perseus, the last king of Macedonia, by the Romans at the Battle of Pydna. The contemporary Greek historian Polybius, in remarking on this eclipse, stated that “the report gained popular credence that it portended the eclipse of a king. This, while it lent fresh courage to the Romans, discouraged the Macedonians.” Polybius added the wry comment: “So true is the saying, ‘there are many empty things in war.’ ”