Please explain my confused me like I’m 5 (0r 4 or 6).

  •  jsomae   ( @jsomae@lemmy.ml ) 
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    2 months ago

    I think the only reason that the nativity would be a year closer to 233 ad than 233 bc is because Jesus was born in late December. Had he been born a week later on the 1st of January, it would work out, with 1 ad starting a year after his birth and 1 bc starting a year before (year 0 being that of his birth)

    • The year was built around it, not the other way. It’s all derived from the Christian calendar. I’m not sure off the top of my head how Christmas ended up a few days before New Years, but they’re deliberately very close. It has been argued that the real life birth might not have been in winter at all (or even Bethlehem).

      I digress, though. It would inevitably be lopsided somehow, because you’ve centered the numbering system around six months off of the New Years points.