8 BC
Year 8 BC was either a common year starting on Friday or Saturday or a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar and a common year starting on Wednesday of the Proleptic Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Censorinus and Gaius Asinius. The denomination 8 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Events
- King Maroboduus becomes ruler of the Marcomanni and fights against the Roman Empire's expansion in Bohemia.
- Arminius, son of a Cheruscan chieftain, is taken as a hostage to Rome, where he receives a military education.
- After 20 years, Emperor Augustus initiates his second census of the Roman Empire.
- Sextilis, the eighth month of the early Julian calendar, is renamed Augustus by a decree of the Roman Senate in honor of Augustus.
Births
- Wang, Chinese empress of the Han dynasty
Deaths
- November 27 - Horace, Roman lyric poet and writer
- Gaius Maecenas, Roman politician and advisor
- Polemon I, Roman client king of the Bosporan Kingdom
- Xu, Chinese empress of the Han dynasty