56 BC

Year 56 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lentulus and Philippus (or, less frequently, year 698 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 56 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Millennium:	1st millennium BC
Centuries:	2nd century BC 1st century BC 1st century
Decades:	70s BC 60s BC 50s BC 40s BC 30s BC
Years:	59 BC 58 BC 57 BC 56 BC 55 BC 54 BC 53 BC

56 BC in various calendars

Gregorian calendar	56 BC LV BC
Ab urbe condita	698
Ancient Egypt era	XXXIII dynasty, 268
- Pharaoh	Ptolemy XII Auletes, 25
Ancient Greek era	181st Olympiad (victor)¹
Assyrian calendar	4695
Balinese saka calendar	N/A
Bengali calendar	−648
Berber calendar	895
Buddhist calendar	489
Burmese calendar	−693
Byzantine calendar	5453–5454
Chinese calendar	甲子年 (Wood Rat) 2641 or 2581     — to — 乙丑年 (Wood Ox) 2642 or 2582
Coptic calendar	−339 – −338
Discordian calendar	1111
Ethiopian calendar	−63 – −62
Hebrew calendar	3705–3706
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	1–2
- Shaka Samvat	N/A
- Kali Yuga	3045–3046
Holocene calendar	9945
Iranian calendar	677 BP – 676 BP
Islamic calendar	698 BH – 697 BH
Javanese calendar	N/A
Julian calendar	N/A
Korean calendar	2278
Minguo calendar	1967 before ROC 民前1967年
Nanakshahi calendar	−1523
Seleucid era	256/257 AG
Thai solar calendar	487–488
Tibetan calendar	阳木鼠年 (male Wood-Rat) 71 or −310 or −1082     — to — 阴木牛年 (female Wood-Ox) 72 or −309 or −1081

Events

Roman Republic

• Consuls: Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus and Lucius Marcius Philippus.
• Clodia accuses her former lover Marcus Caelius Rufus of trying to poison her. The trial ends with the defendant acquitted thanks to the Pro Caelio speech of Cicero. There is no further mention of the previously famous Clodia.
• Third year of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars:
  • Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus defeats the Veneti of Brittany: The Gauls lose most of their warships to the Romans in a sea battle at modern-day Quiberon Bay. The strongholds on the coast are stormed, and the population is slaughtered or sold into slavery.
  • Autumn – Julius Caesar leads an attack on the Morini and the Menapii tribes of the Belgae on the North Sea. They withdraw into their forests, creating difficulties for Caesar's supply lines. The onset of bad weather forces him to pull back into Gallia Belgica.[1]

Britain

• This year, or possibly the following year, the king of the Trinovantes called Imanuentius, is overthrown and killed by his rival Cassivellaunus. His son Mandubracius flees to Gaul and appeals to Julius Caesar for help.

Deaths

• Lucius Licinius Lucullus, Roman politician (b. 118 BC)
• Philip II Philoromaeus, king of the Seleucid Empire (approximate date)

References

1. Nic Fields (2014). Osprey: Alesia 52 BC – The final struggle for Gaul, p. 14. ISBN 978-1-78200-922-1.