Your Day in the Ancient Greek World

December 31

December 31 in ancient Greece is represented in our source-audited archive by 2 verified records spanning AD 21 to AD 535. Together, the entries below connect this calendar date with different moments in the ancient Greek world through historical and documentary evidence.

Across the centuries

On This Day

  1. AD 21

    Life on This Day

    Sinary, Roman Egypt Economy & Trade High

    A Linen-Weaver Borrows Three Hundred Drachmas

    On December 31, AD 21, a Greek loan contract records the linen-weaver Harmaesis borrowing three hundred drachmas from a man named Joseph, equivalent to the value of one hundred linen cloths of Sinary.

    Sources

    Primary evidence

    • P.Oxy. X 1281 = CPJ III 414 = TM 21761; British Library Papyrus 2439

    Modern scholarship

    • British Library Archives and Manuscripts catalogue

    Public links

  2. AD 535

    Event That Shaped History

    Syracuse, Sicily Warfare & Strategy High

    Belisarius Enters Syracuse at the End of His Consulship

    On December 31, AD 535, Belisarius entered Syracuse after imperial forces had secured Sicily and formally laid down his annual office as consul. The episode closed the first stage of Justinian’s Gothic War.

    Sources

    Primary evidence

    • Procopius, Wars 5.5-6 and consular chronology

    Modern scholarship

    • J. B. Bury, History of the Later Roman Empire

    Public links