54 BC

54 BC in various calendars
Gregorian calendar54 BC
LIV BC
Ab urbe condita700
Ancient Egypt eraXXXIII dynasty, 270
- PharaohPtolemy XII Auletes, 27
Ancient Greek Olympiad (summer)181st Olympiad, year 3
Assyrian calendar4697
Balinese saka calendarN/A
Bengali calendar−647 – −646
Berber calendar897
Buddhist calendar491
Burmese calendar−691
Byzantine calendar5455–5456
Chinese calendar丙寅年 (Fire Tiger)
2644 or 2437
    — to —
丁卯年 (Fire Rabbit)
2645 or 2438
Coptic calendar−337 – −336
Discordian calendar1113
Ethiopian calendar−61 – −60
Hebrew calendar3707–3708
Hindu calendars
 - Vikram Samvat3–4
 - Shaka SamvatN/A
 - Kali Yuga3047–3048
Holocene calendar9947
Iranian calendar675 BP – 674 BP
Islamic calendar696 BH – 695 BH
Javanese calendarN/A
Julian calendarN/A
Korean calendar2280
Minguo calendar1965 before ROC
民前1965年
Nanakshahi calendar−1521
Seleucid era258/259 AG
Thai solar calendar489–490
Tibetan calendarམེ་ཕོ་སྟག་ལོ་
(male Fire-Tiger)
73 or −308 or −1080
    — to —
མེ་མོ་ཡོས་ལོ་
(female Fire-Hare)
74 or −307 or −1079

Year 54 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Appius and Ahenobarbus (or, less frequently, year 700 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 54 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: Appius Claudius Pulcher and Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus.[1][2]
  • Fifth year of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars:
    • July – Second of Caesar's Invasions of Britain: Julius Caesar receives nominal submission from the tribal chief Cassivellaunus and installs Mandubracius as a friendly king.[3][4]
    • Winter – Ambiorix revolts in Gaul.[5] He joins with Catuvolcus in an uprising against the Roman army. Caesar's senior officers Lucius Aurunculeius Cotta and Quintus Titurius Sabinus are ambushed by the Eburones, and killed along with almost their entire forces.
  • Pompey builds the first permanent theatre in Rome.
  • Crassus arrives in Syria as proconsul and invades the Parthian Empire, initiating the Roman–Persian Wars, which were to last nearly seven centuries.
  • Octavia the Younger and Gaius Claudius Marcellus marry.

Births

  • Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus, Roman consul (d. AD 25)
  • Seneca the Elder, Roman rhetorician and writer
  • Tibullus, Roman poet and writer (d. 19 BC)

Deaths

  • July 31 – Aurelia Cotta, mother of Julius Caesar (b. 120 BC)
  • Ariovistus, leader of the Suebi (approximated date)
  • Gaius Valerius Catullus, Roman poet and writer (b. 84 BC)
  • Huo Chengjun, empress of the Han Dynasty
  • Julia, daughter of Julius Caesar (dies in childbirth)
  • Lucius Aurunculeius Cotta, Roman legate of Julius Caesar
  • Lucius Gellius Publicola, Roman politician (approximate date)
  • Lucius Valerius Flaccus, Roman tribune and praetor
  • Mithridates III, king of Parthia (executed by Orodes II)
  • Quintus Laberius Durus, Roman tribune of Julius Caesar
  • Quintus Titurius Sabinus, Roman legate of Julius Caesar

References

  1. ^ Cadoux, Theodore John; Seager, Robin J. (2012). "Claudius (RE 297) Pulcher (3), Appius". The Oxford Classical Dictionary (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191735257. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  2. ^ Badian, Ernst (2012). "Domitius (RE 27) Ahenobarbus (1), Lucius". The Oxford Classical Dictionary (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191735257. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  3. ^ "Cassivellaunus". The Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World. Oxford University Press. 2007. ISBN 9780191727061. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  4. ^ Cannon, John; Hargreaves, Anne (2009). "Mandubracius". The Kings and Queens of Britain. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191727252. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  5. ^ Scullard, Howard Hayes; Drinkwater, John Frederick (2012). "Ambiorix". The Oxford Classical Dictionary (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191735257. Retrieved December 12, 2025.