1530 CE; A Case for Calendar Reform.

[This is my first attempt at an in-universe writing. I did this for fun and found that, surprisingly, the scale of Tamriel's history actually matches up fairly well with ours if translated into a Gregorian-Calendar system.]

The Year 1530 of the Common Era; a Case for Calendar Reform

Timekeeping and Calendars in Tamriel can be confusing. As any student of history knows, one of the first things you must do as a prospective historian is memorize when each Era of history begins and ends, in addition to why they do so. It looks something like this:

Dawn Era- This is the Era before reliable written records were widespread. No specific dates are known from this Era.

Mythic/Merethic Era- Ranging from ME2500 to ME1/1E0, this is a period of time during which written records are recoverable, but dating them becomes an issue. Generally regarded as the construction of Direnni Tower in High Rock(c. ME2500) to the founding of the Cameron Dynasty in Valenwood(ME1/1E0).

1st Era- Ranging from ME1/1E0 (both refer to the same year) up to 1E2920. This Era begins at the founding of the Cameron Dynasty in Valenwood, and ends with the Reman Empire falling to the Akaviri. Written records from this Era are widespread and generally easy to date. At some point during the First Era, many writers began dating their texts in terms of an estimated number of years from the founding of the Cameron Dynasty. Nonetheless, the confusion of when the Cameron Dynasty was actually founded makes the true length of this Era unclear.

2nd Era/Common Era- Due to the aforementioned confusion concerning the length of the 1st Era, the Akaviri Protectorate declared a sort of calendar reset, officially defining the 1st of Morning Star on the year following 1E2920 as the start of year one of the Common Era. At the time, this was meant to be a one-time thing, however in 2E896, Tiber Septim conquered all of Tamriel. This led to the new Emperor declaring the 1st of Morning Star the following year to be the start of a new Era, the 3rd Era. Thus leading to the confusion we know today.

3rd Era- Throughout the entirety of the 3rd Era, from 3E1-3E433, the Septim Dynasty ruled over all of Tamriel. This Era ended in 3E433 when Martin Septim sacrificed himself to save Tamriel from Mehrunes Dagon’s forces in the Oblivion Crisis. At the end of that year, due to no successor of the Septim Dynasty remaining, the Elder Council once again decided it was time for a new Era to be declared. Thus, on the 1st of Morning Star following 3E433, the calendar was set to 4E1.

4th Era- The current Era as of this writing. This Era ranges from the first year following the Oblivion Crisis to the present day.

As you can see, the above is already fairly complicated. It will surely only get worse, when is the next time the powers that be will decide an Era has ended? Are we to simply pander to the egos of those with far more power than they know what to do with? What defines an “Era”, when will we choose to end one and begin another? At the start of each dynasty? We’d add eras constantly. At the end of a major event? What is defined as major enough? 1000 years from today, will our decedents have two or more extra Eras to deal with? I say enough is enough. I believe that Tiber Septim, and brace yourselves as I am about to commit treason in the eyes of some, was wrong. It is my opinion that, for the sake of simplicity, we should do away with the current Eras system, and simply define two Eras:

Common Era- Defined as all time following the original reset of the Akaviri Protectorate (1 CE – 1530 CE and beyond). Tiber Septim Conquered Tamriel in 896 CE. The Oblivion Crisis happened in 1329 CE. The Great War started in 1500 CE.

Before Common Era- Defined as all time preceding the Common Era, one counts this era as “number of years preceding the Akaviri Protectorate’s Reset.” So the Akaviri Protectorate was founded in 1BCE(There is no year 0 in this system). The 2nd Empire was founded in 218 BCE. The Middle Dawn took place c. 1720 BCE - c. 720 BCE. The Battle of Red Mountain took place in 2221 BCE. The First Empire was founded in 2678 BCE. The Cameron Dynasty was founded c. 2920 BCE. Men first arrived on Tamriel c. 4000 BCE. The Direnni Tower was constructed c. 5500 BCE.

Should one wish to convert a date marked as 1E to its BCE date, one simply need subtract the marked date from 2921. Should one wish to convert an ME date to its BCE date, one should add 2921 to the marked date. Should one wish to convert a 3E date to a CE date, one need only add 896 to the date. Should one wish to do the same for a 4E date, one need simply add 1329 to the date. Not only will this make the lives of historians easier, but I believe it will help give a better understanding to the common people how much time has truly passed in Tamriel’s long history. At present, when I state that the Three Banners War began in 2E582, many people have difficulty understanding that this event took place nearly 1000 years ago. That perspective is lost on them by the current system. By Imperial reckoning, today is the 26th of Hearthfire, 4E201. By my proposed revision, the date would be written as the 26th of Hearthfire, 1530 CE. If the date were written in such a format, it is clear and simple to see that the Three Banner War was, indeed, 1000 years in the past. If I said that men first arrived on Tamriel c. 4000 BCE, one can easily simply add 4000 to the current date and see that men arrived on Tamriel about five thousand and five hundred years ago. So the benefits of this system would be twofold; both in simplifying our current record keeping, and in providing an easier perspective to the common citizens of Tamriel concerning the scale of our history.

Edit(s); formatting