The Reigns of Roman Emperors 

    On the other hand, my revised chronology places the defeat of Marc Anthony at Actium in Sept. of 35 

B.C.

There is no record of a comet in 36 or 35 

B.C.

 in the records of the ancient astronomers. The comet seen in 

Feb. of 32 

B.C.

 fits Dio's description well, but occurred about 2 years and 5 months after the defeat of Anthony 

at Actium in my revised chronology. However, the deaths of Anthony and Cleopatra occurred in August of 34 

B.C.

, revised, nearly a year after their defeat at Actium in September of 35 

B.C.

912

 This places the comet of 32 

B.C.

 only a year and six months after the death of Marc Anthony and Cleopatra in my revised chronology. By 

comparison, the comet of 32 

B.C.

 falls almost the same length of time before the usual date for the defeat of 

Marc Anthony and Cleopatra at Actium. Therefore, the comet of 32 

B.C.

 fits this revised chronology just as 

well as it fits the usual chronology. 

    A number of conspicuous comets were recorded by the ancient astronomers as occurring during the years 

coinciding with Caesar Augustus' reign, but these were not mentioned by the ancient Roman historians. For 

example, the comets of 5 

B.C.

 and 

A.D.

 13 are not found in the writings of Dio or Suetonius, neither in the 

usual chronology nor in my revised chronology. Part of the reason for this omission is that the reign of 

Augustus was long and fairly prosperous. The people were not hoping for a sign in the sky that would indicate 

the end of his reign (as was the case with Nero). So, certain comets may have been seen during Augustus' 

reign, but not recorded by the Roman historians, because these did not coincide with any significant event, 

such as a change in leadership. 

    The comet of 

A.D.

 13 occurred in the lunar month between Nov. 22 and Dec. 21, only about 8 months 

before the usual date given for the death of Augustus (Aug. 19, 

A.D.

 14).

913

 This comet was described as a 

 broom star,  meaning that it had a conspicuous tail, and it was seen for over 20 days. Dio lists a series of 

omens that foreshadowed the death of Augustus, yet this comet is not mentioned among them. He does refer 

to  blood red comets  in the plural, but only in association with a solar eclipse; these are most likely meteors 

that can be seen, along with the stars, when the sky is darkened by a solar eclipse. 

    On the other hand, in my revised chronology, the comet of 

A.D.

 13 falls over three years after the death of 

Augustus, and over nine years before the death of Tiberius. This comet was not mentioned by the ancient 

Roman historians because it did not coincide with the death of an emperor or some other significant event. 

No Comets for Tiberius 

    The only comets recorded by the ancient astronomers that coincided with Tiberius' reign (in either 

chronology) were the comets of 

A.D.

 13 and 

A.D.

 22. Neither is mentioned by the ancient Roman historians. 

Both fall well before the usual date for the death of Tiberius in March of 

A.D.

 37. The comet of 

A.D.

 22 was 

seen about 8 months after my revised date for the death of Tiberius in March of 

A.D.

 22. However, this comet 

was not very conspicuous; it is described as a  sparkling star  and was seen for only 5 days.

914

 Comets with 

long tails were described by the ancient  astronomers as  broom stars  or as having  rays  of a particular 

length. But the expression  sparkling star  indicates that this comet had no noticeable tail, and much 

resembled an ordinary star. Such a comet would not have been recognized by the Romans as a comet, and 

may not have been noticed at all by the Roman people in general. 

Gaius' Comet 

    No comet is described by the ancient Roman historians as occurring during the reign of the emperor Gaius 

(Caligula). The revised dates for his reign are March of 

A.D.

 22 to Jan. of 

A.D.

 26. Only one comet is found in 

the records of the ancient astronomers from 

A.D.

 22 to well after 

A.D.

 26. A comet was briefly seen, for about 

5 days, during the lunar month of Nov. 13 to Dec 12 in 

A.D.

 22, by the ancient Chinese astronomers.

915

 This 

comet may not have been noticed by the Romans because it appeared only briefly and did not have a 

conspicuous tail. The Chinese astronomers described this comet as a  sparkling star,  whereas they described 

comets with noticeable tails using terms such as  broom star  or  long tailed star. 

916

    On the other hand, the usual dates for Gaius' reign are March of 

A.D.

 37 to Jan. of 

A.D.

 41. Ancient 

Chinese astronomers observed a very conspicuous comet in 

A.D.

 39, for 49 days from mid March to late April. 

This comet was easily noticed, even by a casual observer, since it had  rays measuring 30 ,  in other words, a 

201