Ab urbe condita

Ab urbe condita means "from the founding of the city" in Latin. It refers to the traditional year of the founding of Rome, which according to legend, was 753 BC. People often use the term Ab urbe condita to talk about events that happened in ancient Rome. It's like talking about the history of your school, but instead of saying "from the time the school was built," you would say "ab schola condita." It just means the same thing - from the beginning of the school's history. So when people talk about things that happened ab urbe condita, they are referring to things that happened a long, long time ago in Rome's history.