What was the “year” in ancient times?

by sweet-pie-of-mine

In say 50 bc they wouldn’t have called it 50bc. That was decided later. So what calendar year system was used? What year or équivalant frame of time would they have used in place of 50 bc?

Searocksandtrees

Hi, if by "ancient" you mean Ancient Greece or Rome, you may be interested in some examples here