The phrase commonly appears in Roman political, legal and historical literature, including the speeches of Cicero and " Ab Urbe Condita Libri " ( " Books from the Founding of the City " ) of Livy.
It was total in the region of the Hellespont ( and in his birthplace, Nicaea ); at the time Toomer proposes the Romans were preparing for war with Antiochus III in the area, and the eclipse is mentioned by Livy in his " Ab Urbe Condita Libri"