12 BC
Encyclopedia
Year 12 BC was either a common year starting on Saturday
, Sunday
or Monday
or a leap year starting on 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 Messalla and Quirinius (or, less frequently, year 742 Ab urbe condita
). The denomination 12 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...
, 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 Monday
Common year starting on Monday
This is the calendar for any common year starting on Monday, January 1 . Examples: Gregorian year 1990, 2001, 2007 and 2018or Julian year 1918 ....
or a leap year starting on 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 Messalla and Quirinius (or, less frequently, year 742 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 12 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
- Marcus Valerius Messalla AppianusMarcus Valerius Messalla AppianusMarcus Valerius Messalla Appianus is believed to have been born a son of Appius Claudius Pulcher by an unknown wife. This son is then believed to have been adopted by a Marcus Valerius Messalla - possibly Marcus Valerius Messalla Rufus or else a son of that man, specifically Marcus Valerius...
and Publius Sulpicius QuiriniusQuiriniusPublius Sulpicius Quirinius was a Roman aristocrat. After the banishment of the ethnarch Herod Archelaus from the tetrarchy of Judea in AD 6, Quirinius was appointed legate governor of Syria, to which the province of Iudaea had been added for the purpose of a census.-Life:Born in the neighborhood...
are Roman ConsulRoman consulA consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
s. - Tiberius Claudius NeroTiberiusTiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
summoned to PannoniaPannoniaPannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
due to severe revoltRevolutionA revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
by the Delmataeians. - Roman armiesRoman legionA Roman legion normally indicates the basic ancient Roman army unit recruited specifically from Roman citizens. The organization of legions varied greatly over time but they were typically composed of perhaps 5,000 soldiers, divided into maniples and later into "cohorts"...
based at XantenXantenXanten is a historic town in the North Rhine-Westphalia state of Germany, located in the district of Wesel.Xanten is known for the Archaeological Park or archaeological open air museum , its medieval picturesque city centre with Xanten Cathedral and many museums, its large man-made lake for...
, CologneCologneCologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
and MainzMainzMainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
campaign beyond the Rhine. - First official mention of ArgentoratumArgentoratumArgentoratum or Argentorate was the ancient name of the French city of Strasbourg.The Romans under Nero Claudius Drusus established a military outpost belonging to the Germania Superior Roman province close to a Gaulish village near the banks of the Rhine, at the current location of Strasbourg,...
, the city now known as StrasbourgStrasbourgStrasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
. - Emperor Augustus is given the title Pontifex MaximusPontifex MaximusThe Pontifex Maximus was the high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome. This was the most important position in the ancient Roman religion, open only to patricians until 254 BC, when a plebeian first occupied this post...
.
India
- King Azes IIAzes IIAzes II , may have been the last Indo-Scythian king in northern Indian subcontinent . After the death of Azes II, the rule of the Indo-Scythians in northwestern India and Pakistan finally crumbled with the conquest of the Kushans, one of the five tribes of the Yuezhi who had lived in Bactria for...
dies. The rule of the Indo-Scythians crumbles as the Kushans, one of the five tribes of the YuezhiYuezhiThe Yuezhi, or Rouzhi , also known as the Da Yuezhi or Da Rouzhi , were an ancient Central Asian people....
who lives in BactriaBactriaBactria and also appears in the Zend Avesta as Bukhdi. It is the ancient name of a historical region located between south of the Amu Darya and west of the Indus River...
expand into IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
to create a Kushan EmpireKushan EmpireThe Kushan Empire originally formed in the early 1st century AD under Kujula Kadphises in the territories of ancient Bactria on either side of the middle course of the Oxus in what is now northern Afghanistan, Pakistan, and southern Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.During the 1st and early 2nd centuries...
.
Births
- Marcus Valerius Messalla BarbatusMarcus Valerius Messalla BarbatusMarcus Valerius Messalla Barbatus was a consul of ancient Rome. He was the father of the Roman Empress Valeria Messalina, great-nephew of the Emperor Augustus, and father-in-law to the Emperor Claudius....
, member of the Roman SenateRoman SenateThe Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
(d. c. AD 2020Year 20 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Messala and Cotta...
or 2121Year 21 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Caesar...
) - Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa PostumusAgrippa PostumusMarcus Vipsanius Agrippa Postumus , also known as Agrippa Postumus or Postumus Agrippa, was a son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder. His maternal grandparents were Roman Emperor Augustus and his second wife Scribonia.Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Postumus was born on June 26, 12 BC, the...
, son of Julia the ElderJulia the ElderJulia the Elder , known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia was the daughter and only biological child of Augustus, the first emperor of the Roman Empire. Augustus subsequently adopted several male members of his close family as sons...
and grandson 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...
(d. AD 1414Year 14 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Pompeius and Appuleius...
)
Deaths
- Marcus Vipsanius AgrippaMarcus Vipsanius AgrippaMarcus Vipsanius Agrippa was a Roman statesman and general. He was a close friend, son-in-law, lieutenant and defense minister to Octavian, the future Emperor Caesar Augustus...
, statesman, general (b. c. 63 BC63 BCYear 63 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cicero and Hibrida...
) - Propertius, poet (b. c. 5050 BCYear 50 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Paullus and Marcellus...
–45 BC45 BCYear 45 BC was either a common year starting on Thursday, Friday or Saturday or a leap year starting on Friday or Saturday and the first year of the Julian calendar and a leap year starting on Friday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
)