Teach me about the origins of BC and AD as ways to count years, and why years are organized the way they are currently (12 months, start and end with winter)
>>1240667
>start and end with winter
>>1240673
january is winter fám
>>1240673
January is a winter month
December is a winter month
Unless you live south of the equator, but then its really the same kinda thing, starting and ending with the same season
>>1240680
>>1240667
Years were numbered by the reign of the current monarch. Athens would have an eponymous archon every year, DFW uses this technique, and it tends to confuse the shit out of people. Since Christ is King, AD is simply counting his reign unto infinity.
>>1240667
>start and end with winter
What did he mean by this
>>1240693
>tears flowing the wrong way
one job
>>1240667
Starting and ending with winter allowed Consuls to maintain their Consulship throughout the entire campaign season instead of having to be recalled on April 1st. It was significantly more efficient to hold election during the dead of winter.
yfw people don't know that january and december are winter months
>>1240707
Who originally enacted the first calender that starts and ends w/ winter?
Why is February so short?
>>1240723
Literally the Romans. Calends is a latin word, the year formerly started on the spring equinox, and I forget the exact date, but I'm pretty sure it was in order to better zerg rush the Samnites. Starting the year earlier meant you could put an army in the field faster.
It's an entirely military explanation, because jack shit happens during winter. They didn't even use to consider winter days as months. It was a dead zone. A year represented the cycle of life and death, Spring and Autumn.
>>1240753
The moon travels faster during February.
>>1240763
addendum:
The New Year was likely the start of preparations for a new growing season. The whole purpose, in history, of creating a calendar or keeping track of time was to facilitate agriculture. It was important to know when to till the soil and sow the seeds.
For example in China, the new year is literally the Spring Festival. The Roman calendar diverges simply due to the Romans' unique politics and highly militarized society. The fact that global New Years happens on Jan 1st is a mere accident. Only under the conditions of annual consular elections is there a rationale for such an impious change from tradition.
>>1240753
>tfw born in the most manlet month
>>1240806
All GOAT were too