Augustus’ Age at Death as Reckoned by Josephus

Augustus’ Age at Death as Reckoned by Josephus

What method of counting the age of Augustus at his death is in accord with what’s given by Josephus?

Abstract:

This little study is not meant to be comprehensive, but is merely a toying with dates and numbers in an attempt to see how Josephus might have been counting the age of Augustus, and to derive, if possible, some patterns or some lessons of value.

The pattern I see is that 77 years for the age of Augustus at his death, as recorded by Josephus, may be reached by extending actual time at either or both ends in various ways, e.g. by counting the first and last years inclusively. However, I am most impressed by the method in common use even today everywhere, and which method does not necessarily count the last partial year at all. This requires that Augustus’ birth year be brought backwards in time relative the date of delivery, not only to the time for conception, but all the way to the beginning of the sacred year of the conception which occurred in the middle of Tevet, the tenth month, fourteen days more or less after Mary’s calculated Last Menstrual Period (December 17, 68 BCE [Kislev 30, 68 BCE.]), i.e. December 31, 68 BCE [Tevet 14, 68 BCE.] Makes me wonder whether there is a connection between the Roman New Year celebrations and Augustus’ conception…

Quote from Ronald L. Conte Jr:

“According to Suetonius, Caesar Augustus died just short of his 76th birthday. “He died…just thirty-five days before his seventy-sixth birthday.”⁸³⁹ Dio Cassius confirms this age: “…he passed away, having lived seventy-five years, ten months, and twenty-six days (he had been born on the twenty-third of September)….”⁸⁴⁰ So, both Suetonius and Dio give the date of Augustus’ death as August 19. Josephus gives the length of Augustus’ life as 77 years.⁸⁴¹ He does not, however, give the length of Augustus’ life exact to the day, as he does when giving the length of his reign or the reigns of other emperors.” (Conte Jr., Ronald L., Important Dates in the Lives of Jesus and Mary, p.190.)

839 Suetonius, Lives of the Caesars, Loeb Classical Library, 2.100.1.

840 Dio, Roman History, Volume VII, Loeb Classical Library, 56.30.5.

841 Josephus, The Antiquities of the Jews, 18.32.

Assuming that Dio and Suetonius both are using a Julian calendar, their respective statements as quoted by Ronald L. Conte Jr. above makes perfect sense considering that August has 31 days. Assuming further that both Dio and Suetonius counts birthday as we do today, i.e. from birthday to birthday regardless of when the calendar year begins and ends, we then find that Augustus was born September 23^rd in the astronomical year – ( 76 – 10 ) = -66 = 67 BCE [Elul 24 or 25, 67 BCE.]

Testing what works – Given below are a number of potential ways of counting towards the age of Augustus at his death:

1. Starting at Elul 24 or 25, 67 BCE as the birth and the day of delivery, and counting year to year as western cultures do when counting age, but using a Hebrew calendar, on August 19, 10 CE [Av 19 or 20, 10 CE] Augustus would have been 75 years, 11 lunar months (including an Adar II in 10 CE), and 24 to 27 days. Clearly, this does not add up to 77 years without more.

1.1. Using Elul 24 or 25, 67 BCE as the birth and the day of delivery, and counting inclusively using the civil Hebrew calendar, on August 19, 10 CE [Av 19 or 20, 10 CE] Augustus would have been 76 years, 11 lunar months (including an Adar II in 10 CE), and 19 or 20 days. If the last year is also counted inclusive then this is a good fit.

1.2. Using Elul 24 or 25, 67 BCE as the birth and the day of delivery, and counting inclusively using the sacred Hebrew calendar, on August 19, 10 CE [Av 19 or 20, 10 CE] Augustus would have been 76 years, 4 lunar months, and 19 or 20 days. If the last year is also counted inclusive then this is a good fit.

2. Supposing Augustus’ birthday was counted from the day of delivery by Dio and Suetonius, rather than from the day of conception, and that Josephus corrected for this fact in his count, what do we get? Using the September 23, 67 BCE birthday as the Expected Day of Delivery while looking for the LMP in Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, I obtain December 17, 68 BCE [Kislev 30, 68 BCE.]

2.1. Using Kislev 30, 68 BCE as the day of birth and counting year to year as western cultures do when counting age, but using a Hebrew calendar, on August 19, 10 CE [Av 19 or 20, 10 CE] Augustus would have been 76 years, 8 lunar months (including an Adar II in 10 CE), and 19 or 20 days. If the last year is counted inclusive then this is a good fit.

2.2. Civil year and inclusive both ends: If the birthday of Augustus was brought back in time from the conception to the last prior Tishri 1, i.e. in 68 BCE, Augustus age at death would be 76 years, 11 lunar months (including an Adar II in 10 CE), and 18 or 19 days. But this is less than two months short of a full 12 lunar months year, i.e. the 77^th. So this too, is a relatively good fit. Here too, if the last year is counted inclusive, this is a good fit.

2.3. Based on sacred year and last partial year not counted: If the birthday of Augustus was brought back in time from the conception to the last prior Aviv 1, i.e. in 68 BCE, Augustus age at death would be 77 years, 4 lunar months, and 18 to 19 days. So this too, is a good fit. If the last partial year is not counted at all – in accord with how age of man is most commonly reference everywhere - then this could be a good fit, and is probably the most correct one (?) re that which is given by Josephus considering how the age of any man is generally referenced by Jew and Gentile alike, though with a difference in the starting point.

An aborted attempt of counting age in a similar manner as years of reign are counted for Roman rulers:

Assuming that Josephus uses a Hebrew calendar by default, how exactly would he figure these dates? “August 19”, 10 CE falls on Av 19 or 20 in 10 CE.

First using a Hebrew civil calendar:

1. Let’s say we start by counting backwards towards his birth while skipping the first partial year of this count. The last prior Tishri 1 occurs in 9 CE. “77 years” before the beginning of Tishri 1, 9 CE is astronomical year - ( 77 – 9 ) = -68 = 69 BCE. But this is not in agreement with Dio and Suetonius.

2. Counting in reverse: If the last partial year of the reverse count, i.e. the 77^th, is counted as a full year, i.e. inclusively, then Augustus’ birth would follow the beginning of Tishri 1, 69 BCE. Assuming that September 23 is the correct date, then, since in 69 BCE September 23 falls on Tishri 3 (not likely Tishri 2), then Augustus was born, accordingly, on Tishri 3, 69 BCE [September 23, 69 BCE.] However, this method of reverse counting, i.e. including the year of death, is not consistent with the way Josephus is counting the reign of Augustus, and therefore does not seem likely. Also this is not in agreement with Dio and Suetonius.

3. If (in harmony with the way Josephus apparently counts the reign of Augustus) the year of death is not counted inclusively, then Augustus’ birth would precede the beginning of Tishri 1, 69 BCE. Assuming that September 23 is the correct date, then, we arrive at September 23, 70 BCE [Elul 24 or 25, 70 BCE.] However, the last result is not possible since Elul is before Tishri 1, which would make our count 78 Hebrew years rather than 77.

Assuming instead that Josephus uses a different calendar count by default when giving reference to the life of a living being, i.e. in contradistinction to the reign of a king, what alternatives do we have?

1. Suppose Josephus uses Hebrew calendar years while counting the first year inclusive. Using a similar reverse calculation as above we will then end up with the first calendar year beginning Tishri 1, 68 BCE. Tishri 1, 68 BCE falls on September 10 or 11, 68 BCE.

1.1. Thus, if the last counted year is counted inclusively, then September 23, 68 BCE corresponds to a Hebrew calendar birthday for Augustus of Tishri 13 or 14, 68 BCE, else if the last counted year is not counted inclusively, then September 23, 69 BCE corresponds to a Hebrew calendar birthday for Augustus of Tishri 3, 69 BCE. But this is not in agreement with Dio and Suetonius.

2. Next, we’ll try using a forward count:

2.1. If the 77^th year includes August 19, 10 BCE, then the first year begins in the astronomical year – ( 77 – 10 ) = - 67 = 68 BCE.

2.1.1. If his birth is within the 1^st year, i.e. inclusive count at both ends, then September 23 must follow Tishri 1, 68 BCE, and Augustus’ birthday would then be Tishri 13 or 14, 68 BCE [September 23, 68 BCE.] But this is not in agreement with Dio and Suetonius.

2.1.2. If one end is not counted inclusively Augustus’ birthday is Tishri 3 (or 2), 69 BCE [September 23, 69.] But this is not in agreement with Dio and Suetonius.

2.2. If neither end is counted inclusively, then, if the birth date is September 23, we arrive at September 23, 70 BCE [Elul 24 or 25, 70 BCE.] However, the last is not possible since Elul is before Tishri 1, which would make our count 78 Hebrew years rather than 77.

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