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Comment by chrismorgan | Hacker News Reader

I grew up without liquor around, but with Asterix books. I read of fine vintages like 62 BC. I forgot the stories are set in 55 BC. I assumed good wine was aged for hundreds or thousands of years.

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Even today it is exceedingly rare to find a still-well-conditioned bottle of wine that has the capability to have aged for 117 years or so. Most often sweet wines are capable of this.

If the books are set in 55 BC, how would the characters know it was 55 BC?

Well, Caesar was born in 100 BC and they knew how old he was. Simple calculation, really.

From the future perspective, yes. From the perspective of characters at the time, they wouldn't use that nomenclature, since it didn't exist yet. They would rather use the numbering system of their time (in this case, years since the establishment of Rome)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ab_urbe_condita

I believe this was what people call a "joke"

Ceci-la, c’est la blague

I had a thought once that no one ever lived in year one except retroactively (with some exceptions like the French Revolution). By the time a new system is adopted, it’s already been a while since the defining event.

Another possible exception: systems where year one happens repeatedly, e.g. Japanese era calendar scheme.

> with some exceptions like the French Revolution

It was also the case for the French Revolution. The republican calendar was established in year II. Nobody living in year I knew it at the time.

Likely for the same reason they speak modern French.

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