How did the Greeks and Romans count Years?

Summary by Krater

This video examines how ancient cultures, Greeks, Romans, and medieval Christians counted years and kept calendars, and concludes that the AD system is ultimately a historical convention rather than an absolute baseline.

From the video

Answers: How did ancient Greeks, Romans, and medieval societies count years before the AD system?

• ancient calendars
• dating systems
• AD and BC chronology
• Greek and Roman dating methods
• Christian chronology

What it concludes

• Counting years was not a universal custom in historical societies, with ancient Greeks and Romans using diverse local dating systems such as eponymous magistrates or city-founding eras.
• The Seleukid era was widely used throughout the Near East and outlasted the Seleukids themselves, persisting until the 20th century.
• Roman consular dating remained standard throughout Roman history, sometimes counting years since the foundation of Rome.
• The AD system was invented by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century for calculating the date of Easter and was not intended as a universal dating system, but gradually spread through Christian scholarship.
• The AD system is ultimately a historical convention rather than an absolute baseline, as Dionysius Exiguus miscalculated the birth of Jesus.