Aretes of Dyrrachium explained

Aretes (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: 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 and References

1. [Censorinus]
2. Book: Cory, Isaac Preston . Isaac Preston Cory

   . Isaac Preston Cory . 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 . W. Pickering . 1832 . 2 . 323 . 2018-02-13.

3. Book: Samuel, Alan Edouard . Greek and Roman Chronology . . Calendars and Years in Classical Antiquity . 7 . 1972 . 49 . 9783406033483 . 2018-02-13.
4. Book: Schvarcz, Julius . The Failure of Geological Attempts Made by the Greeks: From the Earliest Ages Down to the Epoch of Alexander . Trübner . 1868 . 38 . 2018-02-13.