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What year is it? (ani.social)
submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[-] [email protected] 118 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Took me a second

They wouldn't call the year 59 bc in 59 bc

[-] [email protected] 37 points 4 months ago

They would probably not speak Modern English either.

[-] [email protected] 17 points 4 months ago

Okay, honest question: what did they call it then, if anything?

Because it's not like they planned on counting down to the future "messiah's" birthday.

[-] [email protected] 41 points 3 months ago

You have to look at non-Christian calendars.

It was 2275 in Korea.

It was 265 of the 33rd dynasty in Egypt.

It was 2 of the 180th Olympiad in Greece.

More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/59_BC

[-] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago

I like the Chinese version best

辛酉年 (Metal Rooster) 2639 or 2432

[-] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago

Damn, so Korea went back in time? Or what are they on now? Did they hit 40K yet? Do they count in dog years? Do they inflate their numbers so it sounds cooler? Have the halfed it, when they split the country in half? I demand answers Korea!

[-] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago

I now realise that I know absolutely nothing of Korean history

[-] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago

North Korea is at 113; they use their own calendar.

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[-] [email protected] 32 points 3 months ago

The Romans named their years after who was elected Consul that year. There were two Consuls, so you'd say "in the consulship of Jones and Smith". 59BC was Julius Caesar and some other guy. The other guy was so unimportant that Romans joked by calling it the consulship of "Julius and Caesar".

[-] [email protected] 21 points 3 months ago

Humour like that makes ancient people so much more relatable.

[-] [email protected] 13 points 3 months ago

Some humour transcends lifetimes, we were carving dicks into walls before the first century.

[-] [email protected] 11 points 3 months ago

"Three men, a greek, a roman and a celt each get an island.

The greek writes a book about flora and fauna of his island.

The roman, realising that the island does not need to be conquered, builds a house, a road to the shore and a statue to himself.

The celt starts a fight."

[-] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

In more official settings they would also use the year "ab Urbe condita", meaning "since the City's founding" (city being Rome).

59BC should be around 694 aUc if my numbers are right.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Depends on where in the world, but most dating systems were reginal, that is what year of what monarch/pharaoh/emperor's reign.

[-] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

Depends on who's calendar... haha

[-] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Same.. took me a moment. Then I realized in 59 B.C. it was like year 700 to them at that time (not literally 700.. just throwing a random number).

[-] [email protected] 41 points 4 months ago

So, what would somebody say the year was if they were asked at that point?

[-] [email protected] 100 points 4 months ago

A universal calendar hasn't been established yet so it would depend on where you are.

For example today in 59 BC under the Athenian calendar would be 17 of Thargelion, Ol.180.1

[-] [email protected] 33 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

But that's a conversion that everyone knows anyways.

[-] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

Probably a celebrating Zeusdays

[-] [email protected] 34 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Consulship of Caesar and Bibulus - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/59_BC lists some options of how it would be called in various places

[-] [email protected] 25 points 4 months ago

I wasn't aware that every year had a wikipedia page...but I tried some others and it kinda seems like it does.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

You can search for any number between 1 and 2024 and your first result will likely be a Wikipedia article on the year

[-] [email protected] 17 points 4 months ago

In Egypt they would say the 8th year of Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator

[-] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

No they wouldn’t. They would say something similar BUT IN OLDE WORLDY EGYPTIAN.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

59 BC is actually pretty close to coptic I'd bet for spoken language (though officially it wouldn't be called coptic with consistent Greek script until the third century). At least in the sense that vulgar Latin was close to Italian.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Yeah but Mrmule was talking at us in English, see?

[-] [email protected] 12 points 4 months ago

Pretty sure they would respond, "Get away from me, demon! Stop talking in tongues!"

[-] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago

I'm pretty sure the concept of somebody speaking another language from you existed back then.

[-] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago

Get away from me, demon! Stop talking in tongues!

[-] [email protected] 11 points 4 months ago

Wikipedia says 695 Ab urbe condita.

[-] [email protected] 21 points 4 months ago

In the Roman empire it was also common to identify years by the names of the two consuls, because the consuls served one year terms.

Consuls continued to be elected through most of the empire period.

[-] [email protected] 13 points 4 months ago

The system would also work in the UK the past few years.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)
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[-] [email protected] 31 points 4 months ago

How do we know they mean BC as in "Before Christ" and not BC as in "Before Cambrian?"

[-] [email protected] 31 points 3 months ago

Because they're speaking modern English.

[-] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago

Except that person is a time traveler, so they would be speaking modern English regardless

[-] [email protected] 16 points 4 months ago

Before Cosby

[-] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago

Before he was famous or before he was infamous? 🤔

[-] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Lol

[-] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Jelly

[-] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

"Before" implies something hasn't happened yet, therefore if they know it's before "something" they must be a time traveller from some after C, whatever the C might be.

[-] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

Or else, you didn't travel anywhere (anywhen?) and the first guy you bumped into is a wise-ass.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

If he gave you the year 113 would you know that was our current year?

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this post was submitted on 21 May 2024
1141 points (99.0% liked)

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