Your Day in the Ancient Greek World
February 17
February 17 in ancient Greece is represented in our source-audited archive by 2 verified records spanning 256 BCE to AD 364. 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
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256 BCE
Life on This Day
A Receipt Records Piecework Wages for Cutting Wood
On February 17, 256 BCE, a duplicate receipt recorded wages at two and a half drachmas per aroura for cutting wood. The document belongs to the dense administrative world of the Ptolemaic Arsinoite nome.
Sources
Primary evidence
- P.Col. III 27 = Columbia inv. 302a, TM 1746
Modern scholarship
- Papyri.info / APIS and HGV metadata via Egyptian Inscriptions
Public links
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AD 364
Event That Shaped History
Emperor Jovian Dies at Dadastana
On February 17, AD 364, Emperor Jovian died at Dadastana on the border of Bithynia and Galatia while travelling toward Constantinople. His sudden death forced civil and military leaders to select another emperor.
Sources
Primary evidence
- Late Roman historical tradition including Ammianus Marcellinus and Eutropius
Modern scholarship
- Encyclopaedia Iranica, Jovian
- De Imperatoribus Romanis, Jovian
Public links