Before the A.D. and B.C. dating systems were adopted, what was the most common dating system used in the western world?

mochyn

the julian calender was used by many countries and was implemented before the birth of Christ so there is no B.C or A.D.Britain was one of te last countries to use the new Gregorian calender Mar 05 03, 12:49 AM

Tabby Tom

Years were often reckoned from the foundation of Rome ('ab urbe condita'). The traditional date for the foundation was the year that we now call 753 BC. So the year 100 BC would be AUC 654. In the later Roman empire years were sometimes numbered by reference to 'indictions' (15-year periods instituted by Diocletian for tax purposes). Locally, the regnal years of kings were often used. Mar 05 03, 7:23 AM

Gnomon

The Julian calendar was a system of fixing the number of days in each month. It did not involve numbering the years. The most popular system was the AUC system used throughout the Roman Empire. The AD/BC system was invented in about 550 AD. Mar 05 03, 8:10 AM

RickF

Surely the most common in individual countries was the Regnal system - 'In the tenth year of the reign of ....' Mar 05 03, 8:27 AM

Jimmy

I agree that regnal years was probably the most common type of system but AUC was much more widely used. However there was also the Greek system of dating years from the first Olympiad. Finally, one that should be mentioned, although almost certainly not the most commonly used, is the Jewish Calendar - we are now in year 5763 so I would suggest that it has been around a bit longer than A.D. and B.C. Mar 05 03, 12:33 PM