Era of the Martyrs

Not to be confused with dates anno Mundi, abbreviated "AM".

Today (at UTC+00)
Thursday, 10 September 2026
Coptic	5 Nesi, AM 1742
Other calendars Akan Nkyiyaw Armenian 22 Hoṙi 1476 Aztec Tititl 3, 10 Ozomahtli Babylonian 27 Abu, 2337 SE Balinese pawukon Menga, Kajeng, Sri, Keliwon, Urukung, Wraspati of Menail, Ludra, Gigis, Manusa Bengali 26 Bhadro, BS 1433 Chinese Yin Fire Pig・Well Mansion 29 Qīyuè, Bǐngwǔnián (Bailu, 13 days until Qiufen) Common Era 10 September 2026 CE Coptic 5 Nesi, AM 1742 Egyptian 27 Tybi, 2775 NE Ethiopian 5 Pāguemēn, 2018 Amätä Məhrät French Republican Décade III, Quartidi de Fructidor de l'Année 234 de la République Gregorian 10 September, AD 2026 Hebrew 28 Elul, AM 5786 Hindu Maghā・Siddha Solar: 25 Bhādrapada, 1948 SE Lunisolar: Caturdaśī, Kṛishna pakṣa of Śrāvaṇa, 2083 VE Rāudra・5127 KY・1,872,828 Icelandic Fimmtudagur, 17 Tvímánuður 2026 Islamic 27 Rabi' al-awwal, AH 1448 (using tabular method) ISO week date 2026-W37-4 Japanese 29 Fumizuki, Reiwa 8 (Hakuro, 13 days until Shūbun) Julian 28 August, AD 2026 (AM 7534) Julian day 2461294 Maya 13.0.13.16.11 4 Chen, 10 Chuen Roman ante diem V Kalendas Septembres, MMDCCLXXIX AUC Solar Hijri 19 Shahrivar, SH 1405 Tibetan 29 gro bzhin, me pho rta 2153 or 1772 or 1000
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The Era of the Martyrs (Latin: anno martyrum), also known as the Diocletian era (Latin: anno Diocletiani), is a method of numbering years based on the reign of Roman Emperor Diocletian who instigated the last major persecution against Christians in the Empire. It was used by the Church of Alexandria beginning in the 4th century AD and it has been used by the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria from the 5th century until the present. This era was used to number the year in Easter tables produced by the Church of Alexandria.

Diocletian began his reign on 20 November 284 AD, and the reference epoch (day one of the Diocletian era) was assigned to be the first day of that Alexandrian year, 1 Thoth, the Egyptian New Year, or 29 August 284 AD.

Alternatives among early Christians

The anno Diocletiani era was not the only one used by early Christians. Western Christians were aware of it but did not use it. Most Roman Christians, like the pagan Romans before them, designated their years by naming the two consuls who held office that year.

The Romans also used the ab urbe condita (AUC) era. Its name is Latin for "from the founding of the City (Rome)". However, the AUC era was hardly ever used outside historical treatises.

Eras that began at Creation, called anno Mundi eras, became the dominant method of numbering years in the East until modern times, such as in the Byzantine calendar. Annianus of Alexandria, a monk who flourished at the beginning of the 5th century, placed the epoch of his world era on 25 March 5492 BC by counting back eleven 532-year paschal cycles from anno Diocletiani 77, itself four 19-year lunar cycles after anno Diocletiani 1. Regarded as a civil rather than a religious era, it began on the first day of the Alexandrian year, 29 August 5493 BC. This Alexandrian era was the preferred era used by Byzantine Christians such as Maximus the Confessor, until the 10th century when the Byzantine era, which had an epoch of 1 September 5509 BC, became dominant. Both eras used a version of dating Creation based on the Septuagint.

Transition to Anno Domini

Main article: Anno Domini § History

When Dionysius Exiguus, an Eastern Roman of Scythia Minor, inherited the continuation of those tables for an additional 95 years (in the year 525 AD) he replaced the anno Diocletiani era with one based on the birth of Christ: the anno Domini era. His main goal was to marginalize the memory of a tyrant who persecuted Christians. The anno Domini era became dominant in the Latin West but was not used in the Greek East until modern times.

See also

• Adoption of the Gregorian calendar
• Calendar era
• Christian martyrs
• Computus
• Coptic calendar
• Greek East and Latin West
• Martyr

External links

• Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Dates and Dating". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. (alternate link)