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History Daily

The Leap Year

History Daily

Airship | Noiser | Wondery

History

4.42.1K Ratings

🗓️ 29 February 2024

⏱️ 23 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

February 29, 2024. Almost every four years, an extra “leap day” is added to the end of February. The reasons for this stretch back into ancient history to a calendar first introduced by Julius Caesar.


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Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:03.7

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0:06.0

Or you can get all of History Daily, plus other fantastic history podcasts at

0:10.5

Into History.

0:11.6

com. It's a warm still day in February 47 b.C. in the Nile Delta of Egypt. By the banks of

0:29.2

the river, 52 year old Roman General Julius Caesar watches as the last of his men march across a wooden

0:35.0

bridge they built over the water.

0:37.1

The makeshift structure wobbles under the strain, what it holds until the Legionnaires make

0:41.8

it to the other side, and Caesar smiles with satisfaction.

0:45.7

The bridge has served its purpose, enabling his army to quickly cross the water and sneak up on

0:50.4

his enemy.

0:51.4

Four months ago, Caesar sailed to Egypt in pursuit of a political rival from Rome, only

0:56.6

to find that he'd already been killed.

0:59.4

Caesar prolonged his stay, however, after he began an affair with the 22 year old queen of Egypt, Cleopatra.

1:05.1

Cleopatra is locked in a bitter civil war with her brother,

1:08.9

Ptolemy and Caesar has thrown his support behind his lover's cause.

1:13.4

Now the Romans have cornered Ptolemy's forces between two branches of the river Nile,

1:17.8

and Caesar hopes to strike a decisive blow.

1:21.4

But as the last of his soldiers crossed the river, there's a sudden cry of alarm.

1:26.0

Caesar's bodyguards draw their swords and form a protective wall around their general.

1:30.0

Caesar peers over their shields and spots dozens of enemy soldiers approaching,

1:35.5

archers on horseback.

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