Daily life · Roman Empire Daily
Rome's first public sundial was captured abroad and told the wrong time for about 99 years.
Deep dive
Brought from Sicily in 263 BC, the sundial was calibrated for a different latitude, so its hour lines were off for Rome. Pliny says nearly a century passed before a correctly set one was installed.
Source: Pliny the Elder, 'Natural History,' 7.213–214.
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