A Comparative Study of the Vespasian Eclipses

from 51 CE through 66 CE

[NASA astronomical based time reckoning]

Abstract:

Outlined below are many pertinent data re the eclipses from 51 CE through 66 CE. These data are useful in considering the exact year referenced by Pliny within his statement: “For the eclipse of both sun and moon within 15 days of each other has occurred even in our time, in the year of the third consulship of the elder Emperor Vespasian and the second consulship of the younger.” Pliny, Natural History, 2.10.

Notably the eclipses in 51 CE, 54 CE, and 58 CE are the prime contestants for the year referenced by Pliny.

Considering Finegan’s list #1 of Roman Consuls and Finegan’s list #2 of Roman Consuls the following ‎14 items are especially noted:

1. Nero is first listed as Consul at the entry: “[A.U.C.] 808 [A.D.] 55 Caesar Nerone et Vetere.”

2. All other, i.e. all subsequent, listings of Nero are simply given as “Nerone II,” “Nerone III,” and “Nerone IIII”, i.e. without the title Caesar. (Cf. item #‎X below!)

3. Finegan is listing each consulship as being one year in duration.

4. No “Vespasiano” is found prior to the entry “[A.U.C.] 823 [A.D.] 70 Vespasiano II et Tito.” (Cf. item #‎I below!)

5. The entry “[A.U.C.] 822 [A.D.] 69 Galva II et Vinio” is immediately preceding the one quoted in item #4 above. (Cf. items #‎I, ‎VIII, and ‎IX below!)

6. No “Galva” entry is found subsequent to the one quoted in item #5 above. (Cf. items #‎I, ‎VIII, and ‎IX below!)

7. The last “Vespasiano” entry is given as “[A.U.C.] 832 [A.D.] 79 Vespasiano VIIII et Tito VI.” (Cf. items #‎IV, ‎VI, and ‎VII below!)

8. Immediately following the entry quoted in item #7 above is: “[A.U.C.] 833 [A.D.] 80 Tito VII et Domitiano VII.” (Cf. items #‎III, ‎IV, ‎V, ‎VI, and ‎VII below!)

9. The last “Tito” entry is the one quoted in item #8 above. (Cf. items #‎III, ‎IV, ‎V, ‎VI, and ‎VII below!)

10. No “Domitiano [I,]” “Domitiano III,” “Domitiano IIII,” or “Domitiano VI” entries exists.

11. Gallo, Rufo, Sabino, and Saturnino, are all named several times in the lists, yet never given any numerals.

12. “Nerva II” is given as “Nerva II et Rufo III” though “Nerva” is given at least thrice earlier in the list.

13. “Rufo III” is given as “Nerva II et Rufo III” though “Rufo” is given at least four times earlier in the list.

14. The last entry for “Domitiano” is “[A.U.C.] 848 [A.D.] 95 Domitiano XVII et Clemente.” (Cf. items #‎III, and ‎V below!)

Based upon the above ‎14 items I find that:

I. Vespasiano I, though not listed, may well have been concurrent with, and replacing, “Galva II,” indicating Galva’s death some time after the “Galva II” nomination.

II. Domitiano VI, though not listed, may well have been concurrent with, and replacing, “Vespasiano VIIII,” indicating Vespasian’s death some time after the “Vespasiano VIIII” nomination.

III. “Domitiano VIII” through “Domitiano XVII,” i.e. ten consulships, are appearing within fourteen (14) consecutive consulships, which may well all be concurrent with Domitian’s being the Caesar, i.e. with the time span September 13, 68 CE through September 18, 83 CE, i.e. a time span of 15 years and 5 days.

IV. The time period corresponding to the entry ~~“[A.U.C.] 832 [A.D.] 79 Vespasiano VIIII et Tito VI”~~ [“[A.U.C.] 833 [A.D.] 80 Tito VII et Domitiano VII” ] may well include the point in time, i.e. June 23, 66 CE when Vespasian died and Titus became Caesar. (Cf. item #‎IX below!)

V. The time period corresponding to the entry ~~“[A.U.C.] 834 [A.D.] 81 Silva et Pollione”~~ [“[A.U.C.] 835 [A.D.] 82 Domitiano VIII et Sabino” ] may well include the point in time, i.e. September 13, 68 CE when Titus died and Domitian became Caesar. (Cf. item #‎IX below!)

VI. If the above items are correct it may appear that Titus wrote “his famous poem” in 63 [62] CE about the comet that was seen in 60 CE, or perhaps rather that he first published “his famous poem” at that time. (Cf. item #‎IX below!)

VII. If the above items are correct it may appear that the time period corresponding to the entry “[A.U.C.] 825 [A.D.] 72 Vespasiano IIII et Tito II” is largely concurrent with 59 [58] CE. (Cf. item #‎IX below!)

VIII. If the above items are correct it may appear that the time period corresponding to the entry “[A.U.C.] 822 [A.D.] 69 Galva II et Vinio” is largely concurrent with 56 [55] CE. (Cf. item #‎IX below!)

IX. But item #‎VIII above is impossible if Galva died, as indicated elsewhere in this study, November 5 or 6, 54 CE. This may necessitate modification of the above [items #‎IV trough ‎VIII] as indicated within [the red font italicized brackets above.]

X. If item #9 above is correct then the entry “[A.U.C.] 808 [A.D.] 55 Caesar Nerone et Vetere” corresponds largely with 41 CE, which dating apparently agrees well with the dates given for Caesar Nero’s rule as calculated elsewhere within this study.

XI. Based upon the above arguments Vespasian’s eclipse apparently fits the 58 CE eclipse best.

I have previously argued – but no longer hold – that… considering Finegan’s list of Roman Consuls and (provided the order of Consuls in Finegan’s list is correct and that each consulship lasts no longer than one year,) the fact that Galba (Galva) was the consul, and thus still alive (Galba died November 5 or 6, 54 CE according to the within chronology,) just two or three consulships prior to the consulship under consideration (i.e. probably “Vespasiano IIII et Tito II” in Finegan’s list,) it appears that (58 CE is too distant from Galba’s death and that) 54 CE is the winner in the contest for the sought after eclipse in “in the year of the third consulship of the elder Emperor Vespasian and the second consulship of the younger.”

And then we have 51 CE, which was a beautiful and much more impressive solar annular eclipse than both of the others above, and which was seen at sunset from Casablanca in Morocco. This eclipse may still be a consideration – though it may seem unlikely that Vespasian and Tito both would hold their consulships for more than one term at a time, unless they were the emperors at the time (which at that time, i.e. 51 CE, they were not.)

Getting access to, and reviewing, Finegan’s sources may be sufficient for resolving the above issues exactly and conclusively. Unfortunately I do not as yet have access to those references.

(Biblical months inserted)

51 CE:

Mar 30 18:29 T 1 Apr 14 21:37 p

Solar eclipse seen over Antarctica and S. America only

Sep 23 17:05 A 7 Oct 8 12:20 p

Solar eclipse seen over North America, Westernmost Europe, West Africa, and North South America. Total annular eclipse seen from south of Greenland to Casablanca in Marocco. Thus seen in Roman Empire.

[Cf. Movie of 23 Sept 51 solar eclipse penumbra, Photo of penumbra at time of Casablanca annular eclipse, Movie of Casablanca sunset annular eclipse, Photo of Casablanca annular eclipse at sunset, Photo close up of Casablanca annular eclipse, Photo of annular eclipse south of Greenland, Photo of annular eclipse south of Greenland less daylight.]

52 CE:

12 Mar 4 05:51 n

Mar 19 11:24 T 1 Apr 2 22:11 n

Solar eclipse visible from South America, Africa and Mediterranean

– penumbra covering Mediterranean and most of Roman Empire.

6 Aug 28 17:25 n

Sep 11 18:25 A 7 Sep 27 04:13 n

Solar eclipse visible from North and South America only

- this penumbra never touched the Roman Empire.

53 CE:

12 Feb 21 11:48 p

Mar 9 01:33 H

Solar eclipse visible from southeast and far east Asia only

- this penumbra never touched the Roman Empire.

5 Aug 18 02:20 p

Sep 1 02:41 H

Solar eclipse visible from far southeast Asia and Australia only

- this penumbra never touched the Roman Empire.

54 CE:

Jan 27 15:40 P 11 Feb 11 00:34 t

Solar eclipse penumbra touching Antarctica only

- this penumbra never touched the Roman Empire.

Feb 26 08:58 P

Solar eclipse penumbra covered all of central and northern Europe

- The penumbra covered the northern parts of the Roman Empire

south to the Alps and northern Spain only.

[Cf. Photo, Close up photo, Movie, Close up movie, Photo of the eclipse as viewed from north Germany, and Close up of the same]

Jul 23 09:16 P 5 Aug 7 04:30 t

Solar eclipse penumbra touching Greenland and North Pole only

- this penumbra never touched the Roman Empire.

Aug 21 17:19 P

Solar eclipse penumbra touching south Pacific only

- this penumbra never touched the Roman Empire.

55 CE:

Jan 16 15:05 A 11 Jan 31 16:41 p

Solar eclipse visible from Antarctica.

This penumbra touched South America and South Africa only

– this penumbra never touched the Roman Empire.

Jul 13 01:45 T 5 Jul 27 05:16 p

Solar eclipse visible from Himalaya to Hawaii

– this penumbra never touched the Roman Empire.

56 CE:

Jan 5 18:12 A 11 Jan 21 07:31 n

Solar eclipse visible from Pacific and South and Central America only

– this penumbra never touched the Roman Empire.

3 Jun 16 01:43 n

Jul 1 13:35 A 4 Jul 15 11:36 n

Solar eclipse visible from Columbia to South-West coast of Africa

– penumbra barely touching south Spain.

9 Dec 10 23:06 p

Dec 25 04:30 T

Solar eclipse visible from India to Taiwan

- this penumbra never touched the Roman Empire.

57 CE:

3 Jun 5 17:39 t Sun

Jun 20 18:17 A

Solar eclipse visible from South Pacific.

The penumbra covered South America only

- this penumbra never touched the Roman Empire.

Nov 15 08:27 P 9 Nov 29 22:34 t Tue

Solar eclipse penumbra touched Antarctica only

- this penumbra never touched the Roman Empire.

Dec 14 19:35 P

Solar eclipse penumbra touched North America only

- this penumbra never touched the Roman Empire.

58 CE:

May 11 04:35 P 3 May 26 11:00 t Fri

Solar eclipse visible from Siberia to North Pole

- the penumbra covered eastern Mediterranean and

the Black Sea in the Roman Empire at local sunrise.

[Cf. Photo - View from the moon, Close up photo from the moon, Photo - View from Jerusalem, Photo - Close up view from Jerusalem, Photo - Close up view from Jerusalem less daylight, Movie - View from the moon, and Close up movie from the moon.]

Nov 4 22:06 A 9 Nov 18 23:39 p Sat

Solar eclipse visible from Australia to Antarctica only

- this penumbra never touched the Roman Empire.

59 CE:

Apr 30 12:10 H 2 May 16 01:05 n

NOTICE: “n” = penumbral lunar eclipse only. Not visible from Earth.

Solar eclipse visible from northern S. America, along all of

Mediterranean to Israel

- visible over the entire Roman Empire.

Oct 25 05:33 A 8 Nov 8 07:47 n

NOTICE: “n” = penumbral lunar eclipse only. Not visible from Earth.

Solar eclipse visible from East Africa and Arabia to Australia

– penumbra just leaving eastern Mediterranean at sunrise,

thus eclipse just barely visible from the Roman Empire.

60 CE:

1 Apr 4 17:08 p Fri/Shabbat

Apr 19 02:21 T 2

Solar eclipse visible from Australia and New Guinea only

- this penumbra never touched the Roman Empire.

7 Sep 28 11:38 p Sun

Oct 13 06:22 A 8

Solar eclipse visible from all of Asia

– This penumbra was leaving the eastern half of

the Mediterranean and the Roman Empire at sunrise.

61 CE:

Mar 10 10:51 P 1 Mar 24 17:31 t Tue

Apr 8 19:28 P 2

7 Sep 18 02:57 t Fri

Oct 2 06:29 P 8

62 CE:

Feb 27 23:18 A 13 Mar 13 22:06 p Sat

Aug 23 01:16 T 6 Sep 7 13:12 p Tue 16

64 CE:

11 Jan 22 15:49 p Sun

Feb 6 04:20 A 12

4 Jul 17 01:29 p Tue

Aug 1 09:50 T 5

65 CE:

10 Jan 11 05:22 t Fri

Jan 25 06:12 P 11

Jun 22 10:56 P 4 Jul 6 10:00 t Sat

Jul 21 22:51 P 5

Dec 16 02:55 T 10 Dec 31 12:19 p Tue

66CE:

Jun 11 13:56 A 4 Jun 26 00:58 p Thu

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