(from Latin annus, ‘year’) The yearly records kept by the priests in Rome from the earliest times. They noted ceremonies, state enactments, and the holders of office. The high priest (Pontifex Maximus) was responsible for maintaining the records in his official residence. The accumulated material (mainly dating from after 300 bc) was published in eighty books known as the Annales Maximi c.123 bc. The name came to be applied generally to the writing of history in strict chronological order.