CHRONOLOGY. 



obscurity common to many other remote 

 occurrences. The Roman writers them- 

 selves, and all who have followed them 

 on the subject, differ widely respecting 

 it. Polybius fixes it in the year B. C. 

 751. Cato, and others, one year earlier. 

 Terentius Varro places it in 753 B. C. 

 Fabius Pictor, who is followed by Diodo- 

 rus Siculus, assigns it to 747 B. C. Sir 

 Isaac Newton adopts the year 627 B. C. 

 and Playfair, after Varro, whose computa- 

 tion was used by the Roman Emperors 

 in their public instruments, places it in 

 the year B. C. 753. Great use is made 

 of this epoch in the histories of ancient 

 Rome, and the historical student will 

 do well to ascertain, if possible, what opi- 

 nion the author he may be perusing 

 adopts, and to what year of the Christian 

 sera the first year of Rome, according to 

 his author, corresponds. The dates of 

 the events will by this method be accu- 

 rately ascertained as he proceeds. The 

 Romans sometimes reckoned the year 

 from the establishment of the consular 

 dignity, and afterwards from the years of 

 the Emperors. 



The aera of Nabonassar is another of 

 those standards by which the dates of 

 events in some histories are regulated. 

 Nabonassar was the founder of the Ba- 

 bylonish monarchy. This aera is reckoned 

 from the commencement of his reign, 

 which is placed in the year B. C. 747, of 

 the Julian period 3967, and extends as 

 far down as the death of Alexander. The 

 Nabonassarean year consists of 12 months 

 of 30 days each, and five intercalary days, 

 making in all 365 days. 



The aera of the Seleucidae, or, as it is 

 sometimes called, the year of the con- 

 tracts, is reckoned from the establish- 

 ment of Seleucus, one of Alexander's 

 generals, after that conqueror's death, in 

 the empire of Babylon, and is reckoned 

 from the year B. C. 312. It is generally 

 supposed to have begun in the spring. 

 It was used in a large district of Asia, 

 and adopted by the Jews. 



The Spanish sera, founded on a division 

 of the Roman provinces among the Tri- 

 umviri, was long in use in Spain and Af- 

 rica, and was adopted in the dates of the 

 principal councils and synods held in those 

 countries. It is reckoned from the first 

 of January B. C. 38. This was afterwards 

 superseded by 



The Christian aera. Learned men have 

 differed in opinion with respect to the 

 exact time of the birth of Christ, some 

 placing it four, others seven, years earlier 

 'banthefii-st yea" of "he Christian sn'a. 

 VOL, TIT 



The uncertainty which exists upon this 

 point arises from the aera not having been 

 used until so many centuries had elapsed, 

 that it was impossible to fix the date with 

 accuracy. This is, however, of very little 

 consequence in the application of this 

 sera to chronological purposes, for all are 

 agreed as to the numerical date of every 

 year, the year 1808, for instance, being 

 universally' received as the year 1808 of 

 the Christian aera, although probably not 

 the exact measure of the time which has 

 elapsed from the birth of Christ. This 

 aera was invented about the year 527 by 

 Dionysius, a Roman abbot, who reckon- 

 ed the first year of it to correspond with 

 the 4714th of the Julian period. It may 

 be useful to give the reader a view of the 

 years of the other principal ?eras which 

 correspond to the first of this : according 

 to Playfair, (who, it is to be observed, 

 differs in many respects from other chro- 

 nologers, but is, nevertheless, a most re- 

 spectable authority) these are the 4008th 

 year of the world, the first year of the 

 195th Olympiad, the 754th year of Rome, 

 the 749th of the Nabonassarean sera, the 

 313th of the Seleucidx, the 46th Julian 

 year, and the 39th of the Spanish aera. 



The aera of Dioclesian was used pretty 

 generally by the Christians previous to 

 the invention of the Christian aera. It is 

 dated from the year A. D. 284, and 

 probably took its rise from the persecu- 

 tion under that Emperor, although its 

 date is computed from the first year of 

 his reign. 



The Hegira, which may be called the 

 Mohammedan aera, is founded upon the 

 flight of Mohammed from Mecca to Me- 

 dina, to escape the persecution of his ene- 

 mies, and is computed by his followers 

 from A. D. 622. The beginning of their 

 year is however made to correspond with 

 the 16th day of July. In comparing any 

 year of this rera, therefore, with the cor- 

 responding year of the Christian aera, it 

 will be necessary to bear this in mind be- 

 fore it can be done with accuracy. The 

 same may also be observed with regard 

 to some of the other aeras, the beginnings 

 of the years of which do not exactly cor- 

 respond with that of the Julian year. 



The Persian sera, or the aera of Yezde- 

 jerd,isthe last we shall notice. Yezdejerd 

 was the last of the Persian monarchs who 

 was subdued by the Saracens. Accord- 

 ing to the opinion of the most reputable 

 modern chronologers, this aera commenc- 

 ed in June, A. D. 632, corresponding with 

 the beginning of the eleventh year of the 

 Hegira, and with the first year of the 



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