Byzantine New Year

Today is the beginning of the 7,524^th year since the creation of the world according to the Byzantine calendar. The Byzantine calendar was based on the Julian but made two significant changes. September first was made the first day of the year in accordance with the start of the ecclesiastical year. The second major adaptation was the dating of the age of the world according to the Old Testament. Opinion regarding the date of creation varied in the Eastern Roman Empire until it was set in the mid 7^th century.  Eusebius (260-339) calculated 5499 years from the creation of the world until the birth of Christ. The Alexandrians Annianos and Panodoros (5^th Century) calculated the same period to be between 5492-5494 with the range in dates is due to a dispute over when the new year fell, March 24^th to coincide with the Alexandrian ecclesial year and the feast of Annunciation or the 29^th of August as the first day of the Coptic month of Thoth. The Byzantines settled on 5508 years from the creation of the world until the incarnation of Christ. The familiar A.D. system of Dionysius Exiguus (470-544) recording years according to the incarnation of Christ rather than the creation of the world was not adopted in the East.

Byzantine Manuscripts contain colophons that give information about the work, copyist and date of completion. Many of these colophons are full of complex abbreviations, symbols and beautiful ligatures. Some of them reveal the mental state of the copyist or biographical notes regarding co-workers at the scriptorium. All of them give the date according to the ἕτος κόσμου or έτος κτίσης κόσμου that is year of the creation of the world. Most colophons also record the indiction (a 15 year cycle starting on September 1^st).  

In order to calculate the Byzantine year between 1st January and 31st August simply subtract 5508 from the desired date A.D. for the rest of the year subtract 5509.

This very basic and clear colophon is from a copy of the Ladder of Divine Ascent by St John Klimakos completed in the year 6477 AM, 12^th indiction, which corresponds to 969 A.D. It was finished on the first of June, the third day of the week (Tuesday) in the fifth hour. 

 Metropolitan Savas of Pittsburgh signing the proclamation of the new indiction in Constantinople 7524 A.M.