Timeline

[dean]

Dear friends,
Our history is divided up into two- before and after Jesus Christ- with the terms BC and ADGive or take 4 years, we set the year back to 0000 ,upon the birth of Christ.(I realise that the reconfiguration of the year took considerable "time", several centuries later)Now what I would like to know is, what year did Alexander think he was living in, would he have had any concept of the "year" he was living in?I mean for a start, he wouldn't have thought that he was born in 356BC would he.I am really surprised that the "division" of chronological time didn't take place at the birth of Alexander given his world importance- I mean for example, at the time of his death in 323BC, his empire was the equivalent size of the U.S. of A.
However, he did set a kind of division at the time of his death- the beginning of the Hellenistic period.Best regards,
Dean.

[Pam]

Not to be flippant (much), but would that give us *BA* and *AA*? Are we living in the year 2,??? AA?However, I too have wondered about how the ancients numbered their history. Outside of reference points (Third year of the reign of Phillip II), I've never heard a theory. Does anybody have one?
Thanks for satisfying my curiosity.

[chris]

Hi DeanIncredible as Alexander was, he was no Jesus Christ. Also, at what point after his death would he have won a world mandate?Regards,Chris

[agesilaos]

The standard way to describe a year was by reference to the eponymous official be it consul archon or suffete. In the case of Kingdoms it was usually the regnal year of the incumbant monarch but could also be from the beginning of the dynasty, the Seleukids dating things from the beginning of their reign in Asia, 310 bc. Other references were the Olympic games of 776BC or the foudation of the city. Since the Ancients saw no great division as having occured they had no reason to divide time, the Jews don't date AD/BC as they do not recognise Jesus as their messiah indeed until the Fifth century AD no one did, as that was when they worked out the year of Jesus' birth, incorrectly as it happens.

[dean]

Hello,Thanks Pam and chris for your comments- but please note that I wasn't in anyway trying to compare Jesus with Alexander.
Could you get two more opposing historical figures?
Thanks Karl for answering my question- so maybe the year for Alexander would have simply been since his reign- or perhaps since the Olympic games? At any rate, I see now how time was calculated.Best regards, Dean.

[marcus]

Karl really gave the only answer that was necessary to that question!I think it is Plutarch who gives us a very specific date for Alexander's death - he refers to the day, month, and the Olympiad; and I think he also says who the archon of Athens was at the time, and the year of Alexander's reign. Of course, I can't remember what the details were off the top of my head, but it works out as 323BC, anyway :-)All the bestMarcus

[chris]

Hi DeanPoint taken. An interesting question and answer.Regards,Chris

[jan]

There is much comparison between Alexander and Jesus. There are so many interesting comparisons which are well analyzed also. For one, Alexander is supposed to have ascended into the Heavens also. I have seen him pictured in a basket rising to the Heavens, and have also seen him depicted as Zeus.Through court reporting, modern day style, I know that eu is an i. Zeus Ammon can be reduced to Zion.While Alexander is not the healer that Jesus Christ is famous for having been, he is nonetheless a forerunner of Jesus, and like Jesus is considered a son of God. The Jews seemed to have copied the Greeks in that format, and haven't you noticed?Alexander did go into Jerusalem, so it is said, and is supposedly on record in the Bible in one of the old testaments also. He is not limited only to the Koran.

[jan]

When I was a history student, my history teacher made me realize how important dates are. My first love as a child was history, and I took scholarship tests in Ohio when in high school to be on the scholarship team. I still have all the certificates from those days. I wish all states were as encouraging as is the state of Ohio in that kind of competition. So I remember yet all the kinds of small details that I had to memorize to compete. One of the things about Alexander that struck me is the Battle of Issus, 333 BC. I am inclined to believe in the Koran's version of the two horned god, Alexander, as a man of God, sounding and behaving a lot like God. The articles from the Koran have impressed me the most of any that I have read. Just as the Jews give King David so much testimony in the Old Testament, Alexander deserves to be given the same kind of recognition amongst all true Alexanderphiles. His is a mission from God in which he believed, and he behaved as such.No matter what century one might imagine he would have dated himself.

[jan]

In fact, as time and manking progress, certain landmarks make it possible for recognition of the times in which we live. One of these landmarks is fashion, clothing, and accessories.I will explain that during a time before I became familiar with the chiton as I now know it, I had returned to a place in time within myself and was able to recognize the place due only to the clothing, the sandals, and the behaviour exhibited in the locality. A spiritual guide led me to Peter Green's discussion of the Battle of Issus, which I recognized then as the place that I had been in my "vision'. Some may think it a kind of mediumistic journey while others may think it a return to a place within myself. It was there that I believe that I recalled the memory of Cleitus the Black, and Alexander and his troops. IN this vision, I am in the person of Alexander, and I recognized this while upon departure of my "astral body" from that place located apparently upon the akashic (sp) records of the soul. At any rate, the experience was real and I realized what I had done.All that is Alexander's is for him and his name and his company then, and all of that which is in my name today is mine, but the soul is the accumulative record of all lifetimes spent on the earth doing the will of God.Comprenez-vous?:-) Always,Jan

[marcus]

I was wrong - all Plutarch gives is the day and the month. But things like the Olympiad and the archon are recorded elsewhere (must be Arrian, 'cos that's the source I read the most).All the bestMarcus

[dean]

Hello,
Thanks Marcus all the same- I am just about to start reading Arrian for the very first time, so I will look out for the info,
All the best and thanks once again,
Dean.