randall@ncr-sd.UUCP (Randall Rathbun) (10/22/86)
In response to a recent question of John S. Watson regarding solar eclipses at sunrise or sunset, Encyclopaedia Brittanica, in vol. 6 of the Macropaedia on page 196 under the article on eclipses, mentions a famous solar eclipse occur- ring just a few minutes after sunset at Rome on June 21st, 400BC that was total or almost total. The poet Quintus Ennius stated that "On the Nones of June, the sun was covered by the moon and night". It must have been an eerie sight to the citizens there to have sudden darkness come upon them so swiftly and unexpectedly. Other very famous eclipses are mentioned also, although none apparently occurred at sunrise or sunset.