What did they anchor to before?
this post was submitted on 01 Jan 2026
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In Rome, typically they referred to the years based on who were the elected Consuls, or in some cases the years since Rome was founded.
As the previous commenter said, the Consuls elected for that year, or the number of years since Rome founded (AUC - 'Ab Urbe Condita'), or, in the period of the Roman Empire, the year of the reigning Emperor (ie "in the third year of our beloved Emperor Tiberius")
When I was in college, I took world history and one day the professor asked the class, “what does BC stand for?” I honestly thought I knew what the answer was as I’ve been told my entire life that it means Before Christ. She scoffed at me and then went on a loud public rant about how dumb my answer was. God, I hated that woman!!
Your answer was correct tho?
BCE is the non-religious rewording for Before Common Era.
Oh, I still don’t know because she traumatized me so bad with embarrassment I didn’t even hear the correct answer.
If I ever get a time machine, I'll correct her for you. That makes so angry to hear.
I do appreciate the sentiment!