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Salvete omnes!

I've been considering a fairly unusual question recently. A recent trend in some circles has been to amend the Christian calendar of BC and AD to BCE and CE, Before Common Era and Common Era respectively. However, they still rely on the same dates as the Christian calendar.

As historians, what would be your idea of a calendar dating from an important historical event? And none of you are allowed to suggest that the current year is 2757 Ad Urbe Condita.

How about 1524 Ad Urbe Perditia? (Is that the correct translation?) 1524 since the fall of the city, referring of course to 476.

Another possibility would be 551 SFE - 551 Since the Fall of the East, referring to 1453.

248 SDR? 248 Since the Diplomatic Revolution, referring to the 1756 alliance between France and Austria.

189 AW - 189 years After Waterloo, the year which changed Europe immeasurably.

What does everyone think of the idea of a later date of historical significance than the birth of Christ for use in a calendar?

NB: This isn't an attack on the current calendar, just a question about what dates of historical significance would serve as a different calendar.

Bene valete,
Marcus Scribonius Curio Agelastus.

What about us living in 21 AA (Anno Attici) ? Important for me

Salve Curio!

Interesting topic.

How about the year 59 ABMS (Ab Bello Mundiali Secundo)? World War II really stands out as an important event in the history of man, albeit a negative one: never before were so many people killed. It also saw the foundations of later spaceflight.

Or we could simply start counting from the earliest sedentary civilisations. In that case we would find ourselves in ca. 8000?

Vale bene,
Draco

2756 auc

Salvete omnes,

Attice, an egotistical suggestion if ever I heard one... Duly added to the signature.

Draco, I like the WWII one, I think the other one could lead to some problems... "And this happened in the year 8000 or so, give or take a few centuries..."

Scerio, no AUCs allowed.

Bene valete,
Marcus Scribonius Curio Agelastus.

Salvete

Not quite, Coruncani, it has slipped a little more since 1917, the difference today being 13 days. The coming Julian year, still used by Orthodox Christian churches, begins 14 Jan. (2758 AUC) by Gregorian reconning. I use Julian for my own religious calendar and haven't been able to convince even my coreligionists to adopt it, so much for the world adopting the Julian.

To start from some other point in history, it would have to be some event that impacted on the entire world or currently joins the world together. So Landing on the moon in 1969? Or maybe sputnik in 1957? Or if you must use the birth of some philosopher, then why not that of the greatest philosopher the world has ever seen, Bugs Bunny in 1940? Something that does bring the world together, and I am surprised that in this place no one has mentioned it, are the Olympics. Dating years by them already has some precedent. I am not certain when they began, but I think it would put us into the year 2764.

Valete optime

How about the first advent of monotheism under Pharaoh Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV, 1364-1347 B.C.)? Since few follow the Pharoah's religion today, no one would feel slighted that their god is being ignored in the calendar in favor of someone else's.

Primus Aurelius Tergestus wrote:How about the first advent of monotheism under Pharaoh Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV, 1364-1347 B.C.)? Since few follow the Pharoah's religion today, no one would feel slighted that their god is being ignored in the calendar in favor of someone else's.

A clever idea, although non-monotheists could still object that the new standard is once again derived from a monotheistic religion

Vale,

Atticus

Yes, but I'm sure that most polytheists would agree that the advent of monotheism was certainly one of the key events in world history. Just as one does not have to be from Rome to recognize the city's importance to history.

I personally think that monotheism is an idea whose time has come and gone. It seems to have brought about the phenomenon of religious wars. Polytheists were more accepting of other people having other gods, while monotheists could demonise people who did not believe in (their particular) one god.

How about from the reign of Augustus? Truly that was a world turning event...?

Salvete

Well Piscine, if not mitaken, modern day Greek pagans who are reconstructionists use a calendar based on a Athenian one. Also it uses the start of the first Olympics as the beginningpoint. With every new Olympic Games, there was a new beginning of the cycle called a Olympiad. Right now, we are in the 695th Olympiad. Since it was reinstituted late 1800's, it became a global event that impacted the world, so we couldn't start the calender from when the first Olympics began, because it only impacted Hellas and the Mediterrenean world, while the reinstituted Olympics late 19th century impacted the whole world.
We couldn't use the reign of Augustus either because it only impacted the Roman Empire. It was vast and although many Roman stuff like law, influenced modern day states and laws, the impact probably wasn't big enough. Some might say the conquest of Alexander the Great, but that impact was more felt by Greeks and Romans.
I can think of one event that impacted us all (except for some idiots who don't believe in evolution): when the first humans started to walk upright in africa. This event effected us all, if we recognize it or not. If the first humans didn't learn to walk on two legs, we might not be here.
valete

Quintus

Salve Mari,

Ab Cadendo Turrium (After the falling of the towers) I would guess, but I suppose there are more skilled latinists who could correct me on this one.

Vale,
Draco

Salvete,

First something I just noticed, Curio:

2757 Ad Urbe Condita

AUC stands for Ab Urbe Condita, not ad, but perhaps it was just a typo.

The same AUC construction would suggest Ab Turribus Perditis (Since the loss of the towers) - Greek could actually better reflect this, since it has a singular, plural but also a dualis form, meaning specifically "two", Since the loss of the two towers.

Lupus

Salve Lupe,

I'd love to be able to say it was a typo... but... it was actually one of my many deficiencies in Latin.

Bene vale,
Curio.

541 a.s.n.

ab Shakespeareus natalis