Kitap 26
1.7
When the emperor arrived in answer to the summons, informed either by presentiments about the task he must fulfil (as was given to be understood) or by repeated dreams, he did not let himself be seen next day, nor would he appear in public, avoiding the bisextileBecause, in Julius Caesar’s reform, every fourth year Feb. 24 (a.d. vi Kal. Mart.) was counted twice as a.d. bis vi Kal. Mart. day of the month of February, which dawned at that time and (as he had heard) had sometimes been unlucky for the Roman state. Of this day I will give a clear explanation.
1.8
The extent of the revolving year is completed, according to the calculations of men of old who were versed in the movements of the universe and the stars, of whom the most eminent are Meton, Euctemon, Hipparchus, and Archimedes, when the sun, in accordance with the eternal law of the heavenly bodies, has traversed the signs of the heaven which in Greek are called ζωδιακός, the zodiac, and after the course of 365 days and nights returns to the same turning-point; that is (for instance) when it has started from the second degree of the Ram and after completing its course has returned to the same place.
1.9
But the true length of a year ends, in the said 365 days and six hours besides, at high noon, and the first day of the next year will extend from the end of the sixth hour to evening. The third year begins with the first watch and ends with the sixth hour of the night. The fourth goes on from midnight until broad daylight.
