Third Imperium - Calendars and Dating

Calendars and Dating

By default, Traveller renders dates using the Imperial calendar, which counts the official founding of the Third Imperium as the "zero" year. The Imperial calendar starts its count of years at year 0 instead of year 1 because when Cleon I announced the conversion of the Sylean Federation into the Third Imperium, he declared that year to be a "jubilee year". It is currently the year 1120 by Imperial reckoning.

There are several other widely used means of accounting for dates in the Traveller universe. The first is the Vilani calendar, which dates to the founding of the First Imperium. Year 1 on this calendar is the equivalent to 473 A.D. on the Solomani calendar and the year -3084 on the Imperial calendar. The Third Imperium was founded in the Vilani year 3084, and it is currently the year 3882 by Vilani reckoning. Note that these dates don't align perfectly with the other two calendars, due to the fact that the Vilani year at 446 standard days in length is longer both the Solomani year and the Sylean year.

Another notable non-Imperial means of recording years is the Solomani calendar, which is basically the modern Gregorian calendar. By Solomani dating conventions, the Third Imperium was founded in 4251 A.D., and it is currently the year 5641 A.D. While the use of Solomani dating is fairly rare in the Imperium, nationalistic political considerations means that its use is common in the Solomani Confederation. Once again, the year counts don't line up perfectly, due to differences in the lengths of the Vilani, Sylean, and Solomani years.

The Aslan use their own dating system, based on the orbital period of their homeworld Kusyu, which is about 320 standard days long. Their calendar dates to the selection of their first ruling council of 29 clan leaders in -2083 on the Imperial calendar. According to the Aslan calendar, it is currently the year 3645.

The Zhodani also have their own calendar, which dates back to the first Psionic Games in -6731 on the Imperial Calendar (alternatively 2209 B.C.), The Zhodani count by Olympiads, which are held once every three Zhodani years. Each Zhodani year is only 273 standard days long, and consequently each Olympiad is 819 days long. The Zhodani are currently in the 3741^st Olympiad.

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