More on A.D.

My post on Adrian Murdoch's post on the Spectator's article on CE vs AD listing in UK textbooks has generated more comments than any other post so far. The assertion that no one cares is obviously just not true. One of the posts says that AD has been in use for 2 whole millennia. I wondered if this was true, so I googled it.

The Start of Anno Domini Dating explains that Dionysius Exiguus wanted the dating of Easter traced not to an emperor who persecuted Christians, Diocletian, but to Jesus.

The Catholic Encyclopedia says Dionysius Exiguus died before 544 A.D. This means the A.D. dating, which did catch on evenually, has been around for a millennium and a half.

The articles listed provide more information for anyone still interested.