On a recently proposed dating of the foundation of Julia Augusta Taurinorum (Torino)

Abstract

Recently, a preprint [arXiv:1901.08545] and a series of news announced that Torino, as the roman Augusta Taurinorum, was founded on 30 January 9 BC. The assumption is based on the coincidence of the Julian date, obtained by means of astronomical calculations, and the date of the inauguration, by Augustus, of the Ara Pacis in Rome (historical date). Here we show that, in the framework proposed in [1], the abovementioned date of the foundation is impossible. The impossibility is based on the following fact. The Julian date (30 January 9 BC), proposed by the authors in [arXiv:1901.08545], cannot definitely be the historical 30 January 9 BC of the Julian Calendar.