'Year Zero' Roman soldier remains identified

[Imperial Dave]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/roman-soldier-remains-year-zero-b2663810.html

Interesting, assuming it was his bowl...

[Cantabrigian]

I thought there wasn't a year zero - that it went from 1 BC straight to 1 AD?

[Imperial Dave]

True....

[Erpingham]

 If I read the term Year Zero, it immediately makes me thing radical change.  Here it just seems to mean late 1st century BC - early first century AD.  So, a misleading headline.

[nikgaukroger]

I thought there wasn't a year zero - that it went from 1 BC straight to 1 AD?

I thought there wasn't a year zero - that it went from 1 BC straight to 1 AD?

Except in Cambodia, and that wasn't a good thing.

[Imperial Dave]

Erm....yes

[Nick Harbud]

The Khmer Rouge givernment was outside the ancient and medieval period that is the focus of this Forum and is therefore excluded from any consideration.  Year 0 therefore becomes an exclusively good thing in this context.

Incidentally, many ancient and even a few modern societies tend to restart their calendars whenever there is a change in monarch.  Do such new reigns start at year 0 or year 1?

 

[Imperial Dave]

Too complex for my mushy brain....

[Erpingham]

Do such new reigns start at year 0 or year 1?

British regnal years start at 1 (it being the first year of the reign).

[RichT]

It's normal (AFAIK) to start everything with year 1. Such as the first year of your life, which is from age 0 to 1; it is not the noughth year of your life.

Year Zero means something specific (like Ground Zero).

FWIW, Oxford terms have numbered weeks, starting with First Week. The week before, when everyone starts arriving, is Noughth week. The week before that is Minus Oneth week, and so on.

[Jim Webster]

Interestingly D Day was preceded by D-1, D-2 etc
The day after D day was D+1

But this was a planning thing. When the operation is planned the actual date is probably not known, so rather than say 5th of June which can change, you just use D Day

Not sure if this is appropriate to the Roman army in this case 

With calendars they are normally started retrospectively so you have the start point (The founding of Rome) and date from there.
Regnal years never go to zero, because the year before Charles' first regnal year was Elizabeth's last regnal year. There is never a gap to be zero.

[Nick Harbud]

So, if I have understood this correctly, one's birthday is actually the noughtth birthday anniversary...

[Imperial Dave]

Which for some most of us is a long time ago....

[Denis Grey]

So, if I have understood this correctly, one's birthday is actually the noughtth birthday anniversary...

Or, to put it another way, the anniversary of one's birth day.  (Two separate words.)

[Jim Webster]

So, if I have understood this correctly, one's birthday is actually the noughtth birthday anniversary...

Some societies have/do date from conception not birth