Mycenian Calendar

The **Mycenian Calendar** is the official calendar used across the Old World to mark dates and times

## Description and current application

The Mycenian calendar is a star calendar based on the movements of constellations. It has twelve months and three hundred sixty four days, with weeks consisting of seven days. The calendar puts its start date and year, 1 March CE 1, at the time of Espios being freed from eminent control. Its definition of "Preliturgy," time not recorded nor written down, ends with the founding of the Erudition in 500 NCE. It refers to centuries thereafter as Eras. So, for instance, 400 NCE - 300 NCE would be classified as the Second Era. The Eras are chronological from that point forward.

The calendar marks a year as the dates between 1 March, the first day of the year, and 28 February, the last day of the year. Days of the week run from Monday to Sunday.

The proper form of dating is the day, the month, and the year. Years before CE 1 are labeled with an "NCE", representing a **N**on-**C**astigated **E**spios year. CE 1 and beyond are always given a "CE" preceding the numeral, and it is considered improper and incomplete without the signifier. As might be apparent, "CE" stands for a year after the **C**astigated **E**spios. The central measurement of time for this calendar, as expected, is the Castigation of Espios.

## Previous calendars

Dating events before the Late Bronze Age is virtually impossible; though the concept of time existed, calendars were started anew based on circumstantial events. Most notably, the Turnable Calendar of Espios is worthless in correct dating, as the "first green of spring" marks the first day of the year. In addition, previous calendars were never saved, and years had inconsistent days.

As a result, before the Kingdom of Themyscria, events could not be ordered chronologically. It is not known how long before the Bronze Bookend that Lenor lived, nor whether or not he was born before or after Nebonyses the Great.

King Erud of Themyscria created the first chronological calendar and created the Erudition. In this traditional method of record keeping, he instructed his priestly and scholarly class, called erudites, to keep a log of historical events and seasonal changes. This was an important first step, but still had massive flaws.

The erudites did not number days, instead relating them to significant events. As an example, they would be able to explain that a child was born ten days after a constellation aligned with Venus, but could not give a reference date; all events were in relation to one another. This caused confusion and, since the erudites were to record all important information, was open to political influence. An event was not considered noteworthy if it was not written in the Erudition in Lenorum. The most prominent example of this manipulation was the Dinamid Senate bribing the erudites to not record the conquests of Horace Virilo within the Erudition, meaning that virtually no records exist of it today.

 Mycenus the Elder

Mycenus the Elder was born circa 14 NCE in Lenorum, and barely met the requirements for enlistment into the city's militia at the outset of the Thirty Year Siege in CE 1. Though he was born into the *senatorial* class of scholars and artists, and received a majority of his education before being drafted into the militia. He was able to continue his education while serving as a garrison in Lenorum Minor as an apprentice to the erudites, as well as a magus called the Orophant.

Apocryphal sources suggest Mycenus was frustrated with the lack of granularity and consistency with the Erudition. The duplicity of timelines and difficulty of retrieving information about past events resulted in Mycenus being unable to fulfill most of his duties in bookkeeping easily, and the Mycenian Calendar was actually a side project of his, which let him keep track of recorded history and make his apprenticeship easier.

However, it is generally acknowledged that this is likely fictional, as there is evidence the Oraphant worked with Horace Virilo previously on this issue, and later helped Mycenus to transcribe historical texts into a dated timeline. The calendar was a widely known problem, as farmers and sailors constantly had to petition the erudites to know the same time of year to plant their seeds.

In some instances, those who discussed world events could not precisely pinpoint how long it's been since events, since things were measured in days and not years. For example, the onset of the Second Perthic War would be dated as "at least 210,000 days since the conclusion of the First Perthic War." This made accurate dating of certain events nearly impossible.

After the Lonenites were decisively defeated in the Battle of Scorpions and the Thirty Years Siege was lifted, Mycenus was among the few *atrementi* who were not kidnapped or otherwise executed during the Cultural Cleanse. He was in a favorable position to implement his new calendar with the accolades of Orophant. Gaius Olivius had this creation made the new standard for timekeeping.