section_path: Ancient dating systems/Ancient Rome/Regnal years of Roman emperors
section_name: Regnal years of Roman emperors
paragraph_text: Regnal years of Roman emperors
  
  Another system that is less commonly found than might be thought was the use of the regnal year of the Roman emperor. At first, Augustus indicated the year of his reign by counting how many times he had held the office of consul, and how many times the Roman Senate had granted him the power of a tribune (Latin: tribunicia potestas, abbr. TRP), carefully observing the fiction that his powers came from these offices granted to him, rather than from his own person or the many legions under his control. His successors followed his practice until the memory of the Roman Republic faded (about AD 200), when they began to use their regnal year openly.