I'm curious as to why exactly we structure our historical timeline based on before Christ and after death. I'm also aware AD actually stands for Anno Domini, which is latin for "In the year of the/our lord." I'm going to assume this basis has mostly to do with the influence of the church during the classical period of world history; however, I figured posting here in r/AskHistorians would allow me to find a little more information on the topic. Thanks!