Human relative dating

[thx4answers]

We call it 2004 relative to the birth of Christ, and I know there was the whole Julien/Gregorian calendar thingy, but what dating system did ancient people use? I know that the earth's year could be determined through planetary motion, but what i mean is...in the year 25BC, how did they refer to it? If they were born 30 years prior, they wouldn't have told people they were born in 55BC!

[JimP]

Yes, a jocular uncle of mine used to pretend to unearth Roman coins for us kids, and exclaim: "ah look, it's got a date . . . 55 B.C:" watching for our reaction. As I understand it the Ancient Greeks and Romans used to date events from the first Olympic games in Greece, around ?seven hundred years before the birth of Christ.

[Famous5]

The Romans used a date Ab Urbe Condita (from the foundation of the city) which we describe as 753 BC

[bernardo]

Or they would refer to the 4th year (or whichever) of the reign of Emperor Whoever, King Whoever, or of the Whichever dynasty.

[tartanwiz]

The Maya of ancient Mexico measured their claendar from what they thought to be the creation of the world, or rather, the LATEST creation. They believed in a preordained universe where everything is repeated in cycles over an over again. The believed that one day the world would be destroyed with fire, floods and earthquakes, but that it would begin again with a new creation.

[humming bird]

Obviously!!..however with no fixed universal point different peoples used differnt points..as well explained. by the way the date of Christ's birth is 7 years out..he was 19, not 12 at the time of the "temple" incident where he told his mother to buzz off.Just another Bible misdirection.. Cheers