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The anno Diocletiani era or the Diocletian era or the Era of Martyrs is a method of numbering years used by Alexandria
Alexandria

Alexandria , with a population of 4.1 million, is the second-largest city in Egypt, and is the country's largest seaport, serving about 80% of Egypt's imports and exports....
n Christians during the fourth and fifth centuries. Western Christians were aware of it but did not use it. It was named for the Roman
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 Emperor Diocletian
Diocletian

Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus , born Diocles and commonly known as Diocletian , was Roman Emperor from November 20, 284 to May 1, 305....
 who instigated the last major persecution against Christians in the Empire. As Diocletian began his reign during the Alexandrian year beginning on August 29, 284
284

Events...
, year one began on that date.






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The anno Diocletiani era or the Diocletian era or the Era of Martyrs is a method of numbering years used by Alexandria
Alexandria

Alexandria , with a population of 4.1 million, is the second-largest city in Egypt, and is the country's largest seaport, serving about 80% of Egypt's imports and exports....
n Christians during the fourth and fifth centuries. Western Christians were aware of it but did not use it. It was named for the Roman
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 Emperor Diocletian
Diocletian

Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus , born Diocles and commonly known as Diocletian , was Roman Emperor from November 20, 284 to May 1, 305....
 who instigated the last major persecution against Christians in the Empire. As Diocletian began his reign during the Alexandrian year beginning on August 29, 284
284

Events...
, year one began on that date. The era was used to number the year in Easter
Easter

Easter is the most important religious feast in the Christianity liturgical year.Christians believe that Jesus was Resurrection of Jesus from the dead three days after his Crucifixion of Jesus, and celebrate this resurrection on Easter Day or Easter Sunday , two days after Good Friday....
 tables produced by the Church of Alexandria. When Dionysius Exiguus
Dionysius Exiguus

Dionysius Exiguus was a sixth century monk born in Scythia Minor, in what is now the territory of Dobruja, Romania, and a member of the so called "Scythian monks" community....
 continued those tables for an additional 95 years, he replaced the anno Diocletiani era with his anno Domini
Anno Domini

, abbreviated as 'AD' or 'A.D.', and 'Before Christ', abbreviated as 'BC' or 'B.C.', are designations used to number years in the Julian calendar and Gregorian calendars....
 era because he did not wish to continue the memory of a tyrant who persecuted Christians. The anno Domini era became dominant in the Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 West but was not used in the Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 East until modern times.

The anno Diocletiani era was not the only one used by early Christians. Most Roman Christians designated their years by naming the two consul
Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Roman Empire. The title was also used in other city states, and revived in modern states, notably French Republic before the Napoleon I of Franceic counter-revolution....
s who held office that year. The AUC
Ab urbe condita

Ab Urbe condita is Latin for "from founding of Rome of the City ", traditionally set in 753 BC. It was used to identify the Roman year by a few Roman historians....
 year was rarely used. Some Eastern Christians had used an era that began at the birth of Jesus in the second and third centuries. It was soon replaced by eras that began at Creation, called anno Mundi
Anno Mundi

File:Rotunda Yard Thessaloniki 05 Jew Tomb remains.JPG abbreviated as 'AM' or 'A.M.', refers to a Calendar era counting from the Bible Creation according to Genesis of the world....
 eras, which became the dominant method of numbering years in the East until modern times. Annianus of Alexandria
Annianus of Alexandria

Annianus of Alexandria or Annianos was a monk who flourished in Alexandria during the bishopric of Theophilus of Alexandria around the beginning of the fifth century....
, a monk who flourished at the beginning of the fifth century, placed the epoch
Epoch (reference date)

In the fields of chronology and periodization, an epoch means an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular era. The "epoch" then serves as a reference point from which time is measured....
 of his world era on 25 March 5492 BC by counting back eleven 532-year paschal cycles from anno Diocletiani 77, itself four 19-year lunar cycles after anno Diocletiani 1. Regarded as a civil rather than a religious era, it began on the first day of the Alexandrian year, 29 August 5493 BC. This Alexandrian era was the preferred era used by Byzantine Christians such as Maximus the Confessor
Maximus the Confessor

Maximus the Confessor was a Christian monk, theologian, and scholar. In his early life, he was a civil servant, and an aide to the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius....
 until the Byzantine era, having an epoch of September 1, 5509 BC, became dominant in the tenth century. Both eras used a version of dating Creation
Dating Creation

Cultures throughout history have believed the world formed or was formed at some time in the past, so methods of dating Creation have involved analysing Religious text and some physical data....
 based on the Septuagint
Septuagint

The Septuagint , or simply "LXX", is the Koine Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, translated in stages between the 3rd century BC and 1st century BC in Alexandria....
. Christians in Spain
Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
 used the aera Hispanica
Spanish era

The Spanish era, Hispanic era or Caesar era refers to the dating system used in Hispania until the 14th century, when the Anno Domini system was adopted....
 from the fifth century well into the Middle Ages
Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
.

See also

  • Calendar era
    Calendar era

    A calendar era is the year numbering system used by a calendar. For example, the Gregorian calendar numbers its years in the Western Christian era ....
  • Computus
    Computus

    Computus is the calculation of the date of Easter in the Christian calendar. The name has been used for this procedure since the early Middle Ages, as it was one of the most important computations of the age....


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