NOTEWORTHY UKRAINIANS: Inventing time and the Ukrainian connection

by Ingert Kuzych

The Christian world recently celebrated the 2000th anniversary of Jesus' birth. But have you ever asked yourself: How do we know that it has been exactly two millennia anyway? Or, just who was responsible for coming up with the designations A.D. and B.C. anyhow? Well, in large part, the credit can go to a little recognized scholar who hailed from territory that today is Ukraine. Here is his story.

The calculation of the Christian Era is generally attributed to Dionysius Exiguus, (c. 470-540) that is, Denis the Little (or Dennis the Short), a surname he himself humbly adopted. Born in Scythia (the territory of present-day Ukraine), Dionysius was an abbot who came to Rome about the time of the death (496) of Pope St. Gelasius I, who had summoned him to organize the pontifical archives. He spent the rest of his life in Rome, earning a reputation as a scholar of outstanding acumen.

Well-versed in astronomy and mathematics as well as theology, he was recognized as an eminent canonist quite apart from his efforts in calendar reorganization, which he completed by request of Pope John I in about 525.

When Dionysius initiated his cycle of the Christian era he designated March 25, the date of the Annunciation or the conception of Christ, as the first day of the year. This date for the new year had been in common use since early Christian times. December 25, nine months after the Annunciation, was set as the date of Christ's birth. The reorganization of the calendar by Pope Gregory in 1582 changed the beginning of the new year to January 1, since this date was simply more convenient than starting the year in the middle of the month.

Dionysius' reckoning of the year 1 A.D. is now generally held to be from four to seven years late, but even so it is the year that we use today for the beginning of the Christian era. All history is thus divided into two comprehensive periods, one of which is designated in English by the initials B.C., the other by the initials A.D. B.C. is an abbreviation of the English term "Before Christ," while A.D. refers to the Latin expression "Anno Domini," in the year of Our Lord.

Interestingly, Dionysius thought so little of his new dating scheme and the designation A.D. that he himself did not use it (he continued to date his letters from the "Indiction," multiples of the 15-year period of imperial tax assessment dating from the accession of Emperor Constantine in 312). Nevertheless, his proposal gradually did catch on over the next few centuries.

The earliest known example of our present system of dating is the following: "Scriptum per manus Joannis Scrimarii Anno VII Domini Nostri Zachariae Datum II Nomas Novembris Imperante Constantino Indictione V Anno DCCXLVIII," which translates as: "Written by the hand of Joannis Scrimarius dated in the seventh year of Our Lord Zacharias [the pope], the second day before the Nones of November, the fifth year of the Indiction of the Emperor Constantine, in the year 748."

The term "Anno Domini" came into use quite late. Its first recorded use is in a document of allegiance by King Reginald of the Isle of Man to the pope which is dated "Anno Domini Millesimo ducentissimo decimo nono," or A.D. 1219. Not until the 17th century did scholars begin to use B.C., counting years backwards from the year of Christ's birth.

Only gradually did the entire Christian world come to accept one calendar. For example, the Spanish recognized a Christian era that dated from 38 A.D. until it was abolished by the Council of Tarragona in 1180. In Portugal, use of this calendar continued until the early years of the 15th century. Similarly the Greeks did not adopt the universal designation of the Christian era until the 15th century.

It is interesting to note that the first year of the Christian era is called 1 A.D. instead of 0 A.D. This happened because the Roman notation was used in Dionysius' calculations and the Romans had no symbol for zero. The year preceding 1 A.D., therefore, is generally called 1 B.C.

It is for this reason also that the year 2000 is the last year of the second millennium. The first year of the 21st century (and the third millennium) really begins on January 1, 2001.

Dr. Ingert Kuzych may be contacted at P.O. Box 3, Springfield VA 22150, or at his new e-mail address, ingert@starpower.net.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, February 11, 2001, No. 6, Vol. LXIX

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