how history works?

lesson 1:

HOW TIME WORKS?

To understand how history works, we must start talking about the time.

• Time is something that exists outside but affects us. Human beings created the measurement of time to be capable of understanding the sequence of events.

• The ways of measuring time have varied throughout history and also differ depending on the geographical region and the civilization to which one belonged.

• In the Ancient world, there were many religious calendars through which people defined the times for harvests and rituals, such as the Mayan, Aztec, Chinese, and Islamic calendars, to name a few. The time could be circular, linear, parallel, etc. For example, the Greeks used the Olympic Games as a reference.

current dating system

According to legend, Romulus, the founder of Rome, instituted a calendar about 738 BC, developing a dating system from when Romulus founded Rome. This dating system used the initials AUC, from the Latin phrase anno urbis conditae, which means "since the city's founding," established as the year 1 AUC. With the expansion of the Roman Empire, this dating system soon became the most widely used in Europe. In 754 AUC, Dionysius Exiguus, a monk, and Pope St. John I invented the Christian Era. They made changes to begin numbering the years from the birth of Christ.

bc and ad

• In the modern calendar, we label all years with B.C. (before Christ) or A.D. (anno domini, or "in the year of our lord").
• There is no "zero" year in this system, the year Christ was born is 1 A.D., and the year preceding it is 1 B.C.
• It took quite a while for it to become a worldwide standard. Besides B.C. and A.D., many people use B.C.E. (for "before common era") and C.E. (for "common era"). These correspond to the same dates as B.C. and A.D. but are a secular way of saying it.

Some typographical conventions to consider:

• BC should appear after the numerical year, while AD should appear before it.

1100 BC, AD 1066

• BCE and CE should both appear after the numerical year.

1100 BCE, 1066 CE

• Some style guides recommend writing BC, AD, BCE and CE in small caps.

AD 2017

typographical conventions

bibliography

Brain, M. (2021, 14 octubre). How time works. HowStuffWorks. https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/time7.htm The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (1998, 20 julio). Roman republican calendar | Julian reform, lunar-solar cycle, leap year. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/Roman-republican-calendar Blakemore, E. (2023, 1 marzo). The new year once started in March—here’s why. History. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/the-new-year-once-started-in-march-heres-why BC and AD, BCE and CE: What’s the Difference? (s. f.). Antidote.info. https://www.antidote.info/en/blog/reports/bc-and-ad-bce-and-ce-whats-difference