Opus de emendatione tempore

work by Scaliger

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July 1, 2026

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Joseph Justus Scaliger's Opus de emendatione tempore (1583), translated as "Study on the Improvement of Time," was a groundbreaking work in chronology. Scaliger, a Dutch philologist and historian, aimed to place historical and classical studies on a scientific basis.1

In this work, Scaliger meticulously compared the timekeeping methods of various ancient civilizations. He identified and corrected errors in their calendars and chronologies. This comprehensive analysis allowed him to establish a more accurate and scientifically grounded system for understanding historical time. His efforts significantly advanced the field of chronology during the Renaissance.1

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Joseph Justus Scaliger
Scaliger’s greatest work is the Opus de emendatione tempore (1583; “Study on the Improvement of Time”), a study of previous calendars. In it he compared the computations of time made by the various civilizations of antiquity, corrected their errors, and for the first time placed chronology on a solidly scientific…
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Scaliger’s greatest work is the Opus de emendatione tempore (1583; “Study on the Improvement of Time”), a study of previous calendars. In it he compared the computations of time made by the various civilizations of antiquity, corrected their errors, and for the first time placed chronology on a solidly scientific…
Read More