AD 38

Calendar and dating

The year is part of the 1st century and is normally written as "AD 38" in the Anno Domini system that became widespread in medieval Europe. At the time, Romans used consular dating rather than Anno Domini. The civil calendar in use across the Roman world was the Julian calendar, which organized years into common and leap years; according to reconstructions it was a common year starting on Wednesday. Modern chronologies sometimes present the same interval simply as the year 38.

Political and regional context

The Roman Empire was under the rule of Emperor Caligula during AD 38, a period marked by imperial court politics and the continuing consolidation of imperial administration. Beyond Rome, major states such as the Parthian Empire and the Han dynasty in China continued their long-running regional trajectories; communication and exchange of specific events between distant regions were limited, so histories of this year are usually organized by local chronologies and surviving records.

Historical practice and significance

• Consular naming: Romans referred to years by the names of the two consuls in office; the surviving label for AD 38—"the Year of the Consulship of Iulianus and Asprenas"—reflects that practice.
• Chronological systems: The Anno Domini dating system that gives the year its modern label was developed later and became dominant in medieval Europe for numbering years of the Christian era.
• Use for historians: Scholars reconstruct the sequence of events and compare sources using synchronized calendars (Julian and later Gregorian) and consular lists when precise dating is needed.

Because extant records from any single year in the early Imperial period are often fragmentary, accounts of AD 38 are best read as part of longer political and social trends rather than as isolated incidents. For further chronological tools and primary-source lists, consult linked reference materials and chronologies that assemble consular fasti and contemporary annals.