59 BC

59 BC in various calendars

Gregorian calendar	59 BC LIX BC
Ab urbe condita	695
Ancient Egypt era	XXXIII dynasty, 265
- Pharaoh	Ptolemy XII Auletes, 22
Ancient Greek Olympiad (summer)	180th Olympiad, year 2
Assyrian calendar	4692
Balinese saka calendar	N/A
Bengali calendar	−652 – −651
Berber calendar	892
Buddhist calendar	486
Burmese calendar	−696
Byzantine calendar	5450–5451
Chinese calendar	辛酉年 (Metal  Rooster) 2639 or 2432     — to — 壬戌年 (Water  Dog) 2640 or 2433
Coptic calendar	−342 – −341
Discordian calendar	1108
Ethiopian calendar	−66 – −65
Hebrew calendar	3702–3703
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	−2 – −1
- Shaka Samvat	N/A
- Kali Yuga	3042–3043
Holocene calendar	9942
Iranian calendar	680 BP – 679 BP
Islamic calendar	701 BH – 700 BH
Javanese calendar	N/A
Julian calendar	N/A
Korean calendar	2275
Minguo calendar	1970 before ROC 民前1970年
Nanakshahi calendar	−1526
Seleucid era	253/254 AG
Thai solar calendar	484–485
Tibetan calendar	ལྕགས་མོ་བྱ་ལོ་ (female Iron-Bird) 68 or −313 or −1085     — to — ཆུ་ཕོ་ཁྱི་ལོ་ (male Water-Dog) 69 or −312 or −1084

Year 59 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caesar and Bibulus (or, less frequently, year 695 Ab urbe condita ). The denomination 59 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.

Events

By place

Roman Republic

• Consuls: Gaius Julius Caesar and Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus (known in jest as "the consulship of Julius and Caesar" due to Bibulus' Social withdrawal from public view to "consult the heavens" in an effort to invalidate Caesar's intended legislation). ^[1]
• Caesar makes the gazette Acta Diurna (Daily News) public. The Acta contains details of official decrees and appointments; births, deaths, and marriages. Even sport results—the outcome of the gladiatorial contests and chariot races at the capital. ^[2]
• The First Triumvirate: Caesar, Pompey and Crassus form an unofficial alliance (or 60 BC).
• Caesar marries Calpurnia, in Rome. ^[3]
• The colonia of Florentia, modern Florence, founded.

Births

• Artavasdes I, king of Media Atropatene (approximate date)
• Livy, Roman historian and writer (approximate date)
• Ptolemy XIV, king (pharaoh) of Egypt (or 60 BC)
• Livia, Roman empress as the second wife of Augustus

Deaths

• Gaius Octavius, father of Caesar Augustus
• He of Changyi, emperor of the Han Dynasty
• Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer, Roman consul
• Quintus Servilius Caepio, Roman tribune

References

1. Howatson, M. C., ed. (2011). "Bi'bulus, Marcus Calpu'rnius". The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Oxford University Press. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
2. "Acta". The Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World. Oxford University Press. 2007. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
3. Farquhar Chilver, Guy Edward; Seager, Robin J. (2012). "Calpurnia". The Oxford Classical Dictionary (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved December 12, 2025.