How did people keep track of years in the “B.C.” times?

Question

How did people keep track of years in the “B.C.” times?

In: Other

Answer 1

“What year is it?”

“It’s 5 B.C.”

What does B.C. stand for?”

“Before Christ.”

“Who the hell is Christ?”

Historically it’s really common for there to not be a fixed starting year. You could say “two hundred thirty-one years before today” or “in the ninth year of King X”. In the middle ages authors starting dating years relative to the founding of Rome “ab urbe condita” to make their work seem older and more prestigious, though there’s no evidence that Roman writers ever did this.