|
The Pedant's Millennium
When Does the Millennium Officially Begin?
Although January 1, 2000, was celebrated throughout the world as the start of the new millennium, that honor should have technically been reserved for January 1, 2001. Common sense might suggest that the year 2000 was the dawning of
the third millennium, but it was in fact the waning of the second.
The first millennium began in A.D. 1.
There is no year zero in our
calendar: the sequence of years passes directly from 1 B.C. to
A.D. 1. Adding a thousand years to the year 1 equals the year
1001, marking the start of the second millennium. Add another
thousand to reach the beginning of the third millennium: January 1,
2001. Opinion seems to be divided about whether the insistence on 2001 is overbearingly pedantic or simply sticking to the facts.
A Fundamental Calendrical Flaw
Bear in mind, however, that both 2000 and 2001 are years based
on a fundamental calendrical flaw. The 6th-century monk
Dionysius Exiguus (also called Dennis the Short) recast the
calendar so that years would be counted from the birth of Christ
(anno Domini [A.D.]; in the year of the Lord) instead of the
beginning of the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian (anno
Diocletiani). A.D. 532–formerly anno Diocletiani 248–became
the first year counted according to the Christian era. Dionysius,
however, miscalculated the birth of Christ, which is believed by
many scholars to have been 4 B.C.
Had the years been
recalibrated accordingly, the millennium would have occurred on
Jan. 1, 1997. In other words, why squabble about the millennium—we've already missed it!
|
