Aretes of Dyrrachium

Ancient Greek writer

Aretes (Ancient Greek: Ἀρέτης) of Dyrrachium was an ancient chronographer – that is, a natural philosopher whose work dealt with the construction of calendars. Some of his calculations were mentioned by the ancient Roman writer Censorinus, so we know Aretes lived in or before the 3rd century CE.[1][2]

Aretes is spoken of as a theorist who devised an astronomical calendar with a very long cycle, lasting approximately 5,552 years, after which the world would be destroyed.[3][4]

## Notes

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1. ^ Censorinus, de Die Natali 18, 21
2. ^ Cory, Isaac Preston (1832). Ancient Fragments of the Phœnician, Chaldæan, Egyptian, Tyrian, Carthaginian, Indian, Persian, and Other Writers: With an Introductory Dissertation, and an Inquiry Into the Philosophy and Trinity of the Ancients (2 ed.). W. Pickering. p. 323. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
3. ^ Samuel, Alan Edouard (1972). Greek and Roman Chronology. Calendars and Years in Classical Antiquity. Vol. 7\. C.H. Beck. p. 49\. ISBN 9783406033483. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
4. ^ Schvarcz, Julius (1868). The Failure of Geological Attempts Made by the Greeks: From the Earliest Ages Down to the Epoch of Alexander. Trübner. p. 38. Retrieved 2018-02-13.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William (1870). "Aretes". In Smith, William (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1\. p. 278.

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