A.U.C.: From the Founding of the City

Via delle Colonnette/Via Antonio Canova

Plaque to Antonio Canova

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The phrase Ab Urbe Condita (From the Founding of the City), often abbreviated as A.U.C., expresses a date in years since 753 BCE, the traditional date for the foundation of Rome. A.U.C. was commonly used in antiquity, and by classical historians, to refer to a given year in Ancient Rome.
 
It is not uncommon to see its usage in Rome on buildings of a more youthful age. 
Attached to the walls of what was once the house-cum-studio of the great neo-classical sculptor Antonio Canova (1757-1822) are numerous fragments of ancient sculptures plus three plaques. Two of the plaques bear the years 1822 and 1871, while the third is inscribed with the date 1 Gennaro MMDCLXX (January 1st, 2670), the 2,670th year since the city of Rome was founded. In other words 1916. ​

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