How did people before Christ count years?

by kaue4arp10

The title probably isn't very clear, but i couldn't really think another way to put it, but i was just reading the Thales of Miletus article on the Wikipedia when i read he predicted a eclipse on 585 BC.

I started to wonder, how would he tell which years would it happen? did they have another starting point for years instead of our BC and AC?

Not sure i'm being clear here, don't know how to put in words my question. Also, sorry for my english, not my first language.

BaffledPlato

I think ancient timekeeping is pretty interesting. Here is one thread which discusses it. You might find other interesting threads in the FAQ .

I'll quote /u/Algernon_Asimov who had a nice succinct answer:

Before the AD/BC calendar came along, there were many methods used by cultures to keep track of years.

  • The most common way was to record things as happening "In the eighth year of the reign of King/Chief Mogwai": the regnal year[2] system.
  • Another alternative was to start counting from the year the world was created, like the Jewish calendar[3] .
  • Yet another way of counting the years was in cycles, like the Mayans[4] .
  • And, as has already been pointed out, the Romans of Caesar's time used consular years ("the year of Consuls C. Iulius Caesar and M. Antonius"). Before the Republic, they used the regnal year based on their kings. And, by the time of the Emperor Justinian, the Romans were counting years "in the reign of Emperor...".