Ab urbe condita

The term Ab urbe condita, often abbreviated as AUC, is used to label years by historians and in records for more impression. It means "from the founding of the City", referring founding of the Rome AUC 1 (753 BC).

The count was invented by Marcus Terentius Varro (d. 727 AUC), who used the consular list and called the year of the first consuls "ab urbe condita 245". The correctness of this calculation has not been confirmed.

For common folk is easier and more meaningful to count of the years of current ruler as the big numbers are not easy to understand. Sometimes small folk count the years from even lesser things (for example, the year when mayor got kicked by mule), especially if the ruler has hold his seat long time or if it makes only little impact to their lives.