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BCE and CE: dating the past — History, 11–13

Historians need a shared way to place events before and after the year 1. BCE and CE let you read dates, compare them and avoid treating the calendar as if it were part of nature.

What BCE and CE mean

CE means “Common Era”, and BCE means “Before Common Era”. The numbers count years around a chosen starting point: 300 BCE is earlier than 100 BCE, while 300 CE is later than 100 CE. There is no year zero in this system.

Why historians use it

A date is useful only when other people can understand and compare it. Different societies once used different calendars and starting points, so historians needed a shared system for writing about the past. BCE and CE do not prove that one culture’s calendar is natural or universal.

Comparing two dates

Suppose a law was written in 250 BCE and a building was completed in 80 CE. First, notice that the events are on opposite sides of the starting point. Next, count 250 years to reach 1 BCE, one year to cross to 1 CE, then 79 more years: 330 years in total. The building came later.

The missing year zero

A common mistake is to subtract 100 BCE from 100 CE and say 200 years. That feels sensible because number lines usually include zero, but this dating system goes from 1 BCE straight to 1 CE. The gap is therefore 199 years, not 200. Always check whether a year zero is being used.

Reading dates in the real world

You meet BCE and CE in museum labels, history books, archaeology reports and timelines online. The same idea appears with BC and AD, which are older labels for the same sides of the calendar. When you see a date, read the label as carefully as the number, especially when comparing events.

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