When did we start counting years in our current calendar? Did Jesus die and people just said “ok we are now in 33AD and there will be 12 sections every year, each with around 30 days”.

Question

When did we start counting years in our current calendar? Did Jesus die and people just said “ok we are now in 33AD and there will be 12 sections every year, each with around 30 days”.

In: Other

Answer 1

Oh no. Anno Domini notation came about in AD525, invented by a monk, one called Dionysius the Humble, who back calculated easters to supposed birth of Jesus. It wasn’t until second millennium that the system actually became widely used.

It’s much like the Jewish Anno Mundi, calendar supposedly counting years from the creation of the Earth(an entirely fictional event), they are at year 5784 right now. Of course they didn’t start counting six thousand years ago, modern form of that calendar wasn’t reached until 10th century.