LUP_Kendal_Bede_03_OT
BEDE ON TIMES
THE CHAPTERS OF ON TIMES
1. Moments and Hours 2. The Day 3. The Night 4. The Week 5. The Month 6. The Months of the Romans 7. Solstice and Equinox 8. The Seasons 9. Years 10. The Leap-Year Day 11. The Nineteen-Year Cycle 12. The 'Leap of the Moon'
13. The Contents of the Paschal Cycle 14. The Formulas for the Headings of the Paschal Table
15. The Sacrament of the Easter Season 16. The Ages of the World 17. The Sequence and Order of Times 18. The Second Age 19. The Third Age 20. The Fourth Age 21. The Fifth Age 22. The Sixth Age 1 This list of chapters does not appear in the MSS of DT consulted by Jones for his edition, though it does appear in other MSS.
THE BOOK ON TIMES
1. Moments and Hours Time is divided into moments, hours, days, months, years, generations, and ages. The moment [momentum] is the smallest and very shortest interval of time, and takes its name from the motion [motu] of the stars, for it is the outermost limit of an hour and exists in the brief intervals when one thing stops and another succeeds it. The word 'hora' is Greek, but it sounds the same in Latin. An hour is a boundary of time, just as the shores [orae] are the boundaries of the sea, or of rivers, or of garments.2 It contains four puncti, ten minuta and 40 momenta.
And for the sake of avoiding error, one should take note that timereckoning [computus]3 depends partly on nature, and partly on authority or custom: on nature – for example that a common [lunar] year has twelve lunar months; on custom – for example that months are computed at thirty days; and on authority – for example that the week consists of seven days.
2. The Day In common parlance, the day is the presence of the sun above the earth,4 and properly speaking it comprises 24 hours. The Chaldeans and the Persians reckon the day between two sunrises, the Egyptians between two sunsets, the Romans from midnight to midnight, the Umbrians and Athenians from noon to noon.5 Moses called the period from morning to morning a single day; but the Lord rose from the dead on the evening of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn on the first day6 of the week, so that mankind, which had
2 Isidore, Etym. 5.29.
3 Computus means generally 'calculation' or, as here, specifically the science of 'timereckoning'. See Introduction, pp. 20–25, and Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, pp. 425–26. In Bede's day, the use of the term computus to denote a particular domain of learning or technical knowledge had not yet taken hold; hence this translation prefers the more neutral term 'timereckoning'.
4 Isidore, Etym. 5.30.1; DNR 1.1 (Fontaine, Traité, p. 173).
5 Isidore, DNR 1.2 (Fontaine, Traité, p. 173); Etym. 5.30.4; Pliny, NH 2.79.188.
6 Matt. 28:1.
BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES
fallen from the light into darkness, could thenceforth return from darkness into light. /586/ 3. The Night7 Night is the absence of the sun when it is concealed by the shadow of the earth.8 It was created to give mortals repose lest humankind in its greed should perish through prolonged exertion. [Where the night is colder, it is also longer, so that work can be curtailed and limbs restored.9] Its parts are seven: dusk [crepusculum], which is that uncertain light between light and darkness, for we call what is uncertain 'creper'; eventide [uesperum], when the star of that name [Vesper, i.e., Venus as evening star] appears; the silent hours, when everything is hushed; the dead of night [intempestum], which is the middle time [tempus] of night when no activity takes place; cockcrow
[gallicinium], when the rooster [gallus] lifts up its voice; early morning, between the departure of the darkness of night and the arrival of the sunrise; and daybreak [diluculum], as it were the first faint light of day [diei lux] – this is also known as 'dawn', preceding the sunrise.10
4. The Week11 The week comprises seven days; the eighth day is the same as the first day, to which it returns and where the week always begins anew.12 The pagans named the days of the week after the planets, for they believed that they received breath from the sun, a body from the moon, blood from Mars, intelligence and speech from Mercury, moderation from Jupiter, pleasure from Venus and sluggishness from Saturn.13 But St Sylvester /587/ ordained that the weekdays were to be called feriae, designating the first day [prima
7 In The Reckoning of Time 6, Bede will greatly expand this material.
8 Isidore, DNR 2.1 (Fontaine, Traité, p. 181).
9 Bracketed phrase, KSSgZ only. Cf. The Reckoning of Time 7. This idea is expressed in Macrobius, Commentary on the Dream of Scipio, a work which Bede apparently did not know directly: see Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, p. 31, n. 60.
10 Isidore, DNR 2.2-3 (Fontaine, Traité, p. 181–83); Etym. 5.31.4-13. In Etym. Isidore puts uesper first, followed by crepusculum; here and below Bede seems to have borrowed from both of Isidore's accounts.
11 Absorbed and considerably expanded in The Reckoning of Time 8.
12 Isidore, Etym. 5.32.
13 Isidore, Etym. 5.30.8; cf. DNR 3.4 (Fontaine, Traité, p. 185). Notice that in On Times,
Mars furnishes blood, but in The Reckoning of Time, ardour or fervour. The latter reading is also found in the Irish-inspired ninth-century Bobbio computus (Milan, Bibl. Ambrosiana H
150 Inf., transcribed in PL 129, 1300–1), though it is not clear in which direction the influence flows.
ON TIMES feria] as the Lord's Day, in imitation of the Hebrews, who used the terms
'first day of the Sabbath', 'second day of the Sabbath' and so forth, in numerical order.14 For the Hebrews a 'week' unfolds over that same number of years,15 and they also had a 'week of weeks' for days as well as for years.
They call the fiftieth day Pentecost, and the fiftieth year the Jubilee, which means 'freedom'.16
5. The Month A lunar month consists of the waxing and waning of the moon,17 as it traverses the zodiac in a little more than 29½ days; but for ease of calculation, the months of the moon alternate between 30 and 29 days. A solar month, however, is 22 hours longer. From these extra 22 hours are accumulated the 11 days of the epacts, by which the sun advances over the moon each year. For 12 times 22 makes 264, and 11 times 24 comes to the same total. The Hebrews begin the months with the new moon, and the Romans on the kalends. The Egyptians, counting each of their months as 30 days, reckon the year from the 4th kalends of September [29 August] to the 9th kalends of the same month [24 August]; they call the five days which are left over 'intercalary days'.18 They were the first people to begin to demarcate the months according to the course of the sun, lest the swifter and less reliable course of the moon disrupt their calculations.19 /589/
6. The Months of the Romans The Romans, by order of Romulus, established a year of ten months, or 304 days. Romulus dedicated the first month to his father Mars; the second he called April from the appearing of the crops. The third he consecrated to Maia the mother of Mercury, and the fourth to Juno.20 Quintilis and Sextilis,
14 Bede's information on Pope Sylvester I (314–335) comes from the section of the 'Irish computus of AD 658' published as De divisionibus temporum 10 (PL 90, 658B); Jones prints the relevant portions in BOT, pp. 394–95.
15 Cf. Isidore, DNR 3.1 (Fontaine, Traité, p. 183).
16 Cf. Isidore, DNR 6.4 (Fontaine, Traité, p. 195).
17 Isidore, DNR 7.7 (Fontaine, Traité, p. 205); cf. Etym. 5.33.1-2.
18 'The Hebrews begin … intercalary days': cf. Isidore, DNR 1.5; 4.6-7 (Fontaine, Traité, pp. 179–81; 189–91).
19 Cf. Isidore, Etym. 5.33.2. As Jones observes, this is found in the Greek original of Theophilus of Alexandria, Prologus Theophili (ed. Krusch, 1, 222) but not in the Latin version.
Nonetheless, Isidore seems to be Bede's immediate source.
20 Bede's source is the version of the 'Debate of Horus and Praetextatus' in Macrobius,
Saturnalia 1.12-15 (ed. Willis, pp. 53–73) found in an anonymous extract in Bede's 'Irish computus', of which a copy is preserved in Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley 309, fols.
BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES
which now are named for the birth of Julius Caesar and the victory of Augustus,21 and the months which follow, he designated by their number.22
He called the beginning of the month the 'kalends', because at that time, the people were 'called' – that is, summoned – to the Capitol by pronouncing the word 'calo', that is, 'I summon', five or seven times, and thereby it was also announced how many days remained until the nones. The 'nones' are so called because on the ninth day before the ides the people flocked to the city in order to learn what should be done that month. Again, the ides is the day which divides the month in half, for 'iduare' means 'to divide' in the Etruscan language.23
Numa added two months to these ten, naming January for Janus and February for Februus, the god of purifications, and thus he aligned the year with the course of the moon in 354 days.24 Julius Caesar instituted the year which has been preserved until this day by adding eleven days. /590/
7. Solstice and Equinox The solstices and equinoxes are each reckoned twice, on the 8th kalends of January [25 December] and July [24 June], and of April [25 March] and October [24 September]25 – that is, in the eighth degree of Capricorn,
Cancer, Aries, and Libra.26 What is more, the equinoctial day is of equal length the whole world over.
Due to variation in the increment of daylight, the longest day in Meroë27 101r–105v. Bede's knowledge of Macrobius was apparently limited to this extract (see Jones,
BOT, pp. 107–8), but some Macrobian material may have reached him through other indirect routes of transmission: see note 9 above. He provides even more extensive quotations from this work in The Reckoning of Time 12. Cf. Isidore, DNR 4 (Fontaine, Traité, pp. 185–91).
21 Cf. Isidore, DNR 4.3 (Fontaine, Traité, p. 187). Julius Caesar was said to have been born on 12 July and Augustus Caesar defeated Anthony and Cleopatra on 1 August: cf. DTR 12, trans. Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, p. 47.
22 Cf. Isidore, DNR 4.4 (Fontaine, Traité, p. 187).
23 Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.15.10-12 (ed. Willis, p. 71).
24 Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.13.1-3 (ed. Willis, p. 61); cf. Isidore, Etym. 5.33.4.
25 Isidore, Etym. 5.34.2; cf. DNR 8.1 (Fontaine, Traité, p. 205). But see below, ch. 10, where
Bede adopts the 'Egyptian' date for the vernal equinox.
26 Pliny, NH 2.17.81.
27 In this sentence, Bede is quoting Pliny, and Pliny's figures are gathered from earlier sources. For readers who may be interested in gauging the accuracy of ancient observations, we give modern estimates of latitude and maximum daylight hours. Meroë (see On the Nature of Things 48, and n. 256, above p. 100) was an ancient city on the Nile (now Kabushiyah in Sudan) at latitude 16°54'N. 12 8/9 hours = 12 hours and 53 minutes (Maximum Daylight [MDL] at that latitude = 13 hours, one minute).
ON TIMES measures 12 equinoctial hours plus eight parts [i.e., 8/9] of one hour, but in Alexandria 14 hours,28 in Italy 15,29 and in Britain 17,30 where the bright nights of summer confirm what reason compels us to believe – namely that when the sun is climbing closer to the top of the world during the days of the summer solstice, the lands which lie beneath, because of the narrow circuit of the light, have continuous day for six months, and then continuous night when the sun has withdrawn to the winter regions. Pytheas of Marseille31 writes that this occurs on the island of Thule,32 which is six days' sail to the north from Britain.33 /591/ 8. The Seasons Seasons [tempora] are successions of changes,34 by which the sun tempers the cycle of the year with its approach or recession. For winter, where he abides for a longer period of time, is cold and wet; spring when he returns is wet and warm; summer when he blazes fiercely is warm and dry; autumn when he retreats is dry and cold. The ancients used to begin the seasons on the sixth day before the ides of February, May,35 August, and November [8
February, 10 May, 8 August, and 8 November], so that the solstices and equinoxes would be in the middle of the seasons.
Spring corresponds to the east [orienti], because then everything springs out [oriuntur] of the ground; summer to the south, because its sector is more scorching with heat; autumn to the west, because it brings grave illnesses being on the border of heat and cold; and winter to the north because it languishes in the cold.36
28 At 31°13'N (MDL = 14 hours, two minutes).
29 The latitude of Rome is 41°53'N (MDL = 15 hours, three minutes).
30 Bede's monastery of Jarrow is situated at 54°59'N. MDL at Jarrow = 17 hours, six minutes. It is possible, though evidence is lacking, that Bede could have verified Pliny's figure for Britain by direct observation. We would have been able to confirm this had he added a gnomon/shadow ratio (see On the Nature of Things 47 and 48: above, pp. 98–101) for Britain at the latitude of Jarrow, which Pliny does not give.
31 Greek navigator (fl. 310–306 BC), who circumnavigated Britain and described Thule.
32 Possibly Iceland or northern Norway.
33 Pliny, NH 2.77.186-87; there is a longer quotation from Pliny, including this passage, in The Reckoning of Time 31 (and cf. ONT 47). See further discussion in Commentary.
34 Ambrose, Hex. 4.5.21 (CSEL 32.1, p. 127.20-21); Isidore, DNR 7.1 (Fontaine, Traité, p. 199).
35 Pliny, NH 2.47.122-23. Pliny gives the autumnal equinox as the beginning of autumn and 11 November as the beginning of winter (NH 2.47.124-25).
36 Isidore, Etym. 5.35.8.
BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES
9. Years A solar or civil year is when the sun traverses the zodiac in 365¼ days.37
The Romans start the year on the winter solstice, the Hebrews /592/ at the spring equinox, the Greeks at the summer solstice and the Egyptians in the autumn.38
A common lunar year is completed in 12 lunations, that is, 354 days; an embolismic year, in 13 lunar months, or 384 days.39 Both start with the Paschal lunation.
A great year is when all the stars, when their precise courses have been executed, return to their proper place.40 Josephus says that it is completed in six hundred solar years.41
10. The Leap-Year Day A leap-year day is put together by calculating quarter-days over a four-year period, because the sun returns to the same sign from which it set out not in 365 days, but with a fourth part of a day added. For example, if now the sun enters the equinoctial part of the sky42 at dawn, it will return to that point next year at noon, in the third year in the evening, in the fourth year at midnight, and in the fifth year at dawn again. It is necessary to predict in advance the day which will be added on, for if it is not added, the vernal equinox would fall on the day of the winter solstice after 365 years. The Egyptians inserted it at the end of their year, that is, on the 4th kalends of September [29 August], and the Romans on the 6th kalends of March [24
February], from which it takes its name.43 /593/ According to a more concise and commonplace explanation, the leapyear day is generated by the lagging behind of the sun, which does not quite return to the same line [on the sundial] in 365 days. For example, if you carefully observe the sun rising at the mid-point of the east at the spring equinox (which according to the Egyptians comes on the 12th kalends of April [21 March]),44 one year later, on the same day, you will find that it
37 Isidore, DNR 6.4 (Fontaine, Traité, p. 195).
38 Isidore, DNR 6.2 (Fontaine, Traité, p. 193).
39 Isidore, DNR 6.4 (Fontaine, Traité, p. 195).
40 Isidore, DNR 6.3 (Fontaine, Traité, p. 195).
41 Cf. Josephus, Ant. 1.3.9 (ed. Blatt, pp. 136.24–137.2).
42 I.e., crossing the celestial equator.
43 Bi(s)sextus, 'the leap-year day' means literally 'the 6th doubled'.
44 Bede, EH 5.21 (Colgrave and Mynors, p. 542); Dionysius Exiguus, Epistola ad Petronium (ed. Krusch, 2, 65.20-22).
ON TIMES rises a little lower down,45 and in the third, fourth and fifth year this drop will increase, so that unless you add on a day, the sun will arise at the mid-point of the east to make the equinox on the 11th kalends of April (22 March), as well as maintaining the same retardation in its other risings.
11. The Nineteen-Year Cycle The Council of Nicaea instituted the nineteen-year cycle for the sake of the Paschal fourteenth moons,46 in such a way that each and every [phase of the] moon will return on an unerring course to the same day of the solar year in nineteen years, /594/ when 235 lunations are completed.47 The cycle is divided into the 'ogdoad' and the 'hendecad', that is, into a period of eight years and one of eleven years. For eight lunar years surpass the same number of solar years by only two days, one of which fills the gap in the hendecad, and the other is absorbed by the calculation of the 'leap of the moon' – for otherwise, the solar hendecad would surpass the lunar by one day.
Some people arbitrarily try to assemble these days out of the leap-year days over eight years, even though the leap-year day, which is added in the month of February to [the reckoning of both] the sun and the moon, would not normally prejudice future time – and these people add no leap-year day to the hendecad. If I may put it more plainly, the two days of the moon which are in excess in the ogdoad complement the two which are wanting in the hendecad. /595/ 12. The 'Leap of the Moon'
The advancing place and time of the appearance of the new moon over 19 years produces the 'leap of the moon'. For although some people, computing each lunation as 29½ days, alternate the first appearance of the new moon between noon and midnight, they are, in so doing, looking more to ease of calculation than to the facts of nature. For if you investigate nature, the moon of the first month, which now shows its first light at noon, and of the second month, which now does so at midnight, will in the year to come shine forth one hour, 10½ momenta and one-nineteenth part of one-half of a momentum before noon or midnight. Nonetheless, this numerical difference does not 45 I.e., a little to the south of due east, or the celestial equator.
46 That is, on account of the importance of finding the 14th day (= the full moon) of the first lunar month following the spring equinox. Medieval Christians believed that these were the criteria for determining the fourteenth day of the Jewish lunar month of Nisan, which is the beginning of Passover.
47 That is, 235 lunar months = 228 solar months or nineteen solar years.
BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES
apply to the established term of the year, be it embolismic or common, but is equally divided over nineteen /596/ years. And thus over nineteen years, the appearance of the [new] moon, by running ahead of itself, deprives the final year of the nineteen-year cycle of one day, and causes it to be computed at 383 days.48 If you neglect to do this, after 15 nineteen-year cycles the fifteenth moon will happen where you think the first should be.
The leap of the moon removes one night, but adds to the age [of the moon], which increases through the whole cycle. But in this leap the night which is removed is one which is counted before the moon wanes completely.
In nature, of course, the night itself persists; this night marks the beginning of the following year and the starting point of the new cycle. For this reason, the final year retains an epact of 18, and it attaches 12, not 11 days to the first year.49 And because the epacts come to an end in 30 days, no epact is placed at the beginning of the cycle.50
13. The Contents of the Paschal Cycle This same Paschal cycle is assembled in eight columns.51 The first column contains the years from the Incarnation of the Lord, increasing by one with each passing year. The second contains the Roman indictions, which always revolve in a cycle of fifteen years.52 The third contains the eleven lunar epacts which accrete in each solar year according to the course of the moon, and which are always added [to the lunar regular53 for each month] in order to find the age of the moon on the kalends of the month. They are positioned in reference to the 11th kalends of April [22 March]. The fourth column contains /597/ the concurrent days of the week for the 9th kalends of April
[24 March]; because of the loss [occasioned by] the leap-year day, they are 48 Rather than 384 days, the ordinary period of an embolismic lunar year (the nineteenth year of the cycle being embolismic).
49 On how the 'leap of the moon' affects the epacts in year one of the cycle, see Commentary.
50 This paragraph is printed at the end of On Times 13, by Giles, Migne, and Jones, which is where it appears in many MSS. Jones, BOT, p. 301, unnumbered note, points out that only three MSS 'place this passage at the end of Ch. XII, where it belongs according to content'.
The three include K, and Sg should be added to these. Several MSS, including S, V, and Z, omit it entirely. Jones suggests that it probably began as a gloss.
51 Bede is referring to the graphic presentation of the Paschal table of Dionysius Exiguus, which organizes its data in eight columns. See the eight columns in the tables prepared by Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, Appendix 2, and also the cycles printed in PL 90, 825–78.
52 Since a cycle of fifteen years will not repeat from the beginning in a period of five hundred and thirty-two years, the indictions in Bede's tables apply only to the years 532–1063.
53 For the 'lunar regular' and how to derive it, see Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, pp. 295–96.
ON TIMES of necessity completed in twenty-eight years. Their calculation means that the 28 nineteen-year cycles have to be written out in such a way that each of the concurrents begins a single cycle, and that the grand total of the Paschal calculation is finished in five hundred thirty-two years. The fifth contains the lunar cycle, which the nineteen-year cycle precedes by three years, and which itself comprises nineteen years. The sixth contains the [dates of the]
14th days of the moon by which the men of old made the Pasch. These days are variably distributed between the 12th kalends of April [21 March] and the 14th kalends of May [18 April]; their new moons fall between the 8th ides of March [8 March] and the nones of April [5 April]. From the 14th moon to the 14th moon of the following year, there are 354 days if the year is common, and 384 if it is embolismic. In the seventh column are found the days of Easter of our Lord, from the 11th kalends of April [22 March] up to the 7th kalends of May [25 April] – the extreme prolongation being due to the calculation of the embolism. In the last column is found the moon on the feast of Easter, which varies between 15 and 21 because of [the position of] Sunday [with respect to the date of the 14th moon].54 /598/
14. The Formulas for the Headings of the Paschal Table If you want to find out the number of years from the Incarnation of the Lord, take cognizance of the number of indictional cycles – for example, by the fifth year of the Emperor Tiberius there had been 46.55 Multiply these by 15, and this makes 690. Always add twelve regulars, because according to Dionysius /599/ the Lord was born in the fourth indiction, and add the indiction of the year you want, for example, in the present year, one; and this makes 703. These are the years of the Lord's Nativity.56
If you want to know what the indiction is, take the years of the Lord and add three; divide by 15, and what remains is the indiction of the present year.57
If you wish to know what the lunar epact is, divide the years of the Lord 54 See Commentary.
55 Tiberius III Apsimar, ruler of the Eastern Roman Empire (698–705); the fifth year of Tiberius was AD 702. Forty-six indictional cycles of 15 years each total 690 years. Bede then adds 12 to account for the years between the birth of Christ (in AD 1 = indiction 4) and the beginning of the first post-Incarnation indictional cycle in AD 13; this brings the total to 702.
The next year, AD 703, will therefore be the first of the indictional cycle.
56 Cf. Dionysius Exiguus, Argumenta de titulis paschalis, I (ed. Krusch, 2, 75). Bede must have composed this chapter in 703. See n. 55 below.
57 Dionysius Exiguus, Argumenta 2 (ed. Krusch, 2, 75). Left unstated is the observation that if the remainder is 0, the indiction is 15.
BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES
by 19 and multiply the remainder58 by 11; then divide by 30, and what is left over is the epact.59
If you wish to know the concurrent days of the week, take the years of the Lord and add one-fourth of them; then add four to these because in the year of the birth of the Lord the concurrent was five; divide these by seven, and what remains is the epact of the sun.60
If you want to know what year of the nineteen-year cycle it is, take the years of the Lord, and, adding one, because the Lord was born in the second year of that cycle, divide by 19. The remainder is the year of the nineteenyear cycle.61
If you wish to know the number of the year of the lunar cycle, take the years of the Lord, subtract two, and divide by 19; what remains is the year of the lunar cycle.62
If you wish to know the leap year, divide the years of the Lord by four; what remains will be the number of years since the leap year.63 When these are found, you can readily find the exact date of Easter and [the age of] its moon. If you want to find the epacts and concurrent days of the sun for any number of years from now – say, after one hundred Easters – it is only necessary to divide 100 by 19 and the remainder is 5; know that the epact one hundred years from now will be the same as it is five years from now.64
In the same way, by dividing 100 by 28, you will find the solar concurrent one hundred years from now to be the same as the concurrent sixteen years from now.
15. The Sacrament of the Easter Season Therefore Easter does not return on the same day of the year like the season of our Lord's Nativity. In the latter case only the memory of his birth /600/
58 quod remanet, Sg, quod remanserit, BO, Giles, Migne; quod remanserint, Jones.
59 Dionysius Exiguus, Argumenta 3 (ed. Krusch, 2, 75-76).
60 Dionysius Exiguus, Argumenta 4 (ed. Krusch, 2, 76). The solar epact is another term for the concurrent: see The Reckoning of Time 53. N.B., a remainder of 0 = a concurrent of 7.
61 Dionysius Exiguus, Argumenta 5 (ed. Krusch, 2, 76). This is the number of Dionysius' and Bede's nineteen-year cycle, not the lunar cycle which appears in column 5 of Bede's tables.
A remainder of 0 = year nineteen.
62 Dionysius Exiguus, Argumenta 6 (ed. Krusch, 2, 76). Again, a remainder of 0 = year nineteen.
63 Dionysius Exiguus, Argumenta 8 (ed. Krusch, 2, 76–77).
64 That is, assuming you know the epacts for nineteen years into the future, you can calculate the lunar epact for any year beyond that by dividing the years from the present by 19, finding the remainder, and looking up the epact for the number of years into the future indicated by the remainder.
ON TIMES is held to be solemnized. But in the former case the mysteries of the life to come should be celebrated and its gifts received, and that is why Easter is called 'Pasch', which signifies the transition from death to life. Easter likewise seeks a season which corresponds to these mysteries: first, so that, with the equinox passed, the darkness of death may be conquered by the true
Light; then, so that the joys of the new life may be celebrated in the first month of the year, which is called the month of the new [grain];65 third, so that the Resurrection, which took place on the third day and was revealed in the third era of the world – that is, under grace,66 since before the Law and under the Law it lay concealed within a prophetic enigma – might be celebrated in the third week of the moon,67 since this very shift of phases of the moon at this time teaches the contemplative powers of the mind to exchange earthly things for heavenly glory; and finally so that the Lord's day may be called to mind, a day made worthy of veneration through the creation of glorious light and through the triumph of Christ, and also a day which we should long for because of our own resurrection.
16. The Ages of the World68 Time is distributed into the six ages of the world. The first age, from Adam to Noah,69 contains ten generations, and one thousand six hundred fifty-six years. This age perished completely in the Flood, just as infancy is wont to be submerged in oblivion.70 The second age from Noah to Abraham71 is likewise compounded of ten generations, but two hundred ninety-two years.
This Age is found with a language, that is, Hebrew, for humans begin to know how to speak in childhood after infancy [infantia], which derives its
65 mensis nouorum: cf. Exod. 23:15 and 34:18. See Kendall, Bede: On Genesis, p. 197, n. 307.
66 Referring to the tripartite division of the world-age: before the Law (Creation to Moses), under the Law (Moses to Christ), under grace (Christ to the present). See Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, p. 152, n. 91.
67 That is, Easter Sunday must fall within the week following the 14th day of the moon (14
Nisan). Since 14 Nisan can fall on any weekday, but Easter must fall on a Sunday, this allows for a range of seven days.
68 The major sources of this and the following chapters are Isidore's 'Chronicon B', that is, his short chronicle in Etym. 5.38-39, and his Chronica maiora. Both are edited by Mommsen,
MGH: AA 11 (Chronica minora 2), 424–81 – the Chronica maiora at the top of the page, and the Etymologiae chronicle at the foot. The Roman numerals indicate the paragraphs in Mommsen's edition.
69 Isidore, Chron. B 3.
70 Augustine, DCD 16.43 (CCSL 48, 550.75-76).
71 Isidore, Chron. B 3.
BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES
name from the fact that it cannot 'talk' [fari], that is, speak.72 The third age from Abraham to David,73 contains fourteen generations, and nine hundred forty-two years; and because a human being can begin to generate from adolescence, Matthew /601/ begins the generations from Abraham, who was also made the father of nations [gentium].74 The fourth age from David until the transmigration into Babylon75 likewise extends for fourteen generations according to Matthew, and four hundred seventy-three years. Then the time of the kings began,76 for the dignity of a man in the prime of life is appropriate for ruling. The fifth age, up to our Lord's advent in the flesh,77 extends for fourteen generations, and five hundred eighty-nine years, and in it the Hebrew people, as if exhausted by the burden of old age, were battered by ever-increasing evils. The sixth Age, which is unfolding now,78 has no fixed sequence of generations or times, but, like extreme dotage itself, will end in the death of the whole world-age.
17. The Sequence and Order of Times So the first age79 comprises one thousand six hundred and fifty-six years according to the Hebrews, and according to the Seventy Translators, two thousand two hundred forty-two years.80 When he was one hundred and thirty years old, Adam begat Seth, who was born in place of Abel.81 When he was one hundred and five, Seth begat Enosh, who began to call upon the name of the Lord.82 When he was ninety, Enosh begat Kenan, [whose name means 'the nature of God'].83 When he was seventy, Kenan begat Mahalalel,
[which translated means 'the plantation of the Lord'].84 When he was 72 Augustine, DCD 16.43 (CCSL 48, 550.72-75).
73 Isidore, Chron. B 3.
74 Augustine, DCD 16.43 (CCSL 48, 550.65-70). Cf. Matt. 1:1-17.
75 Isidore, Chron. B 3.
76 Augustine, DCD 16.43 (CCSL 48, 550.58).
77 Isidore, Chron. B 3.
78 Isidore, Chron. B 3.
79 Isidore, Chron. B 4; Chron. mai. 2a.
80 Isidore gives the ages of the patriarchs according to the Septuagint: see following notes.
81 Isidore, Chron. B 5; Chron. mai. 4 (Isidore gives Adam's age as two hundred and thirty).
Cf. Gen. 5:3.
82 Isidore, Chron. B 6; Chron. mai. 5 (Isidore gives Seth's age as two hundred and five).
Cf. Gen. 4:26; 5:6.
83 Isidore, Chron. B 7; Chron. mai. 6 (bracketed phrase, M only, Mommsen/Jones; Isidore gives Enosh's age as one hundred and ninety).
84 Isidore, Chron. B 8; Chron. mai. 7 (bracketed phrase, FMPSg only, Giles, Migne,
Mommsen/Jones; Isidore gives Kenan's age as one hundred and seventy). Cf. Gen. 5:12.
ON TIMES sixty-five, Mahalalel begat Jared, [which translated means 'descending' or 'carrying'].85 When he was /602/ one hundred sixty-two, Jared begat
Enoch, who was carried off by God.86 When he was sixty-five, Enoch begat Methuselah,87 [which translated means 'dedication'].88 [The sons of God lusted after the daughters of men.]89 When he was one hundred and eightyseven, Methuselah begat Lamech.90 The Giants were born.91 When he was one hundred and eighty-two, Lamech begat Noah, who built the ark.92 When
Noah was six hundred years old, the Flood arrived.93
18. The Second Age The second age94 comprises two hundred and ninety-two years according to the Hebrews, and according to the Seventy Translators nine hundred and forty-two, or if one adds in Kenan, one thousand and seventy-two years.95
In the second year after the Flood, Shem, [when he was one hundred years old], begat Arpachshad, from whom the Chaldeans are descended.96 When he was thirty-five, Arpachshad begat Shelah, from whom the Samaritans and Indians are descended.97 When he was thirty, Shelah begat Heber, from whom the Hebrews are descended.98 When he was thirty-four, Heber begat
85 Isidore, Chron. B 9; Chron. mai. 8 (bracketed phrase, M only, Mommsen/Jones; Isidore gives Mahalalel's age as 165). Cf. Gen. 5:15.
86 Isidore, Chron. B 10; Chron. mai. 9. Cf. Gen. 5:18.
87 Isidore, Chron. B 11; Chron. mai. 10 (Isidore gives Enoch's age as 165). Cf. Gen. 5:21.
88 Bracketed phrase, M only, Mommsen/Jones; the phrase is awkwardly interpolated, it refers not to Methuselah but to Enoch, cf. Jerome, Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum
(CCSL 72, 65).
89 Bracketed phrase, FPSg only, Giles, Migne, Mommsen/Jones; Isidore, Chron. mai. 11.
Cf. Gen. 6:2.
90 Isidore, Chron. B 12; Chron. mai. 12 (Isidore gives Methuselah's age as one hundred and sixty-seven). Cf. Gen. 5:25.
91 Isidore, Chron. mai. 13. Cf. Gen. 6:4.
92 Isidore, Chron. B 13; Chron. mai. 15 (Isidore gives Lamech's age as one hundred and eighty-eight). Cf. Gen. 5:28-29; 6:14-22.
93 Isidore, Chron. B 14; Chron. mai. 17. Cf. Gen. 7:6.
94 Isidore, Chron. B 15; Chron. mai. 18a.
95 The Septuagint adds Kenan between Arpachshad and Shelah (cf. Augustine, DCD 16.10
[CCSL 48, 512]), as Bede notes in The Reckoning of Time 66, AM 1693. Isidore omits this generation.
96 Isidore, Chron. B 16; Chron. mai. 19 (bracketed phrase, EH2 only, Mommsen/Jones, and some MSS of Isidore). Cf. Gen. 11:10.
97 Isidore, Chron. B 17; Chron. mai. 20 (Isidore gives Arpachshad's age as one hundred and thirty-five). Cf. Gen. 11:12.
98 Isidore, Chron. B 18; Chron. mai. 21 (Isidore gives Shelah's age as one hundred and thirty). Cf. Gen. 11:14.
BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES
Peleg. The Tower [of Babel] was built.99 When he was thirty, Peleg begat Reu. The gods were worshipped for the first time.100 When he was thirty-two,
Reu begat Serug. The kingdom of the Scythians was inaugurated.101 When he was thirty, Serug begat Nahor. The kingdom of the Egyptians /603/ came into being.102 When he was twenty-nine, Nahor begat Terah. The kingdom of the Assyrians and the Sycinians began.103 When he was seventy, Terah begat
Abraham.104 Semiramis built Babylon.105
19. The Third Age The third age106 comprises nine hundred and forty-two years. [When he was seventy-five, Abraham came to Canaan.]107 When he was one hundred,
Abraham begat Isaac. But first he begat Ishmael, from whom the Ishmaelites are descended.108 When he was sixty, Isaac begat Jacob. The kingdom of the Argives came into being.109 When he was ninety, Jacob begat Joseph.110
Memphis was founded in Egypt.111 Joseph lived for one hundred and ten years. Under Argus, Greece began to cultivate fields.112 The servitude of the Hebrews lasted one hundred and forty-seven years.113 Cecrops built Athens.114
99 Isidore, Chron. B 19; Chron. mai. 22 (Isidore gives Eber's age as one hundred and thirtyfour). Cf. Gen. 11:16; 11:1-9.
100 Isidore, Chron. B 20–21; Chron. mai. 23–24 (Isidore gives Peleg's age as one hundred and thirty). Cf. Gen. 11:18.
101 Isidore, Chron. B 22–23; Chron. mai. 25–26 (Isidore gives Reu's age as one hundred and thirty-two). Cf. Gen. 11:20.
102 Isidore, Chron. B 24–25; Chron. mai. 27–28 (Isidore gives Serug's age as one hundred and thirty). Cf. Gen. 11:22.
103 Isidore, Chron. B 26–27; Chron. mai. 29–30 (Isidore gives Nahor's age as seventy-nine
[or seventy-eight in Chron. B 26]). Cf. Gen. 11:24.
104 Isidore, Chron. B 28; Chron. mai. 31. Cf. Gen. 11:26.
105 Jerome, Chron. (ed. Helm, p. 20b, 26); Orosius 2.2.1 (CSEL 5, 82.2-3; Isidore, Chron. mai. 33.
106 Isidore, Chron. B 30; Chron. mai. 33a.
107 Bracketed sentence, FPSg only, Giles, Migne, Mommsen/Jones. Cf. Gen. 12:4-5.
108 Isidore, Chron. B 31; Chron. mai. 34. Cf. Gen. 16:15-16; 21:5.
109 Isidore, Chron. B 32–33; Chron. mai. 35–36. Cf. Gen. 25:25-26.
110 Isidore, Chron. 34; Chron. mai. 39. Cf. Gen. 30:23-24 (where Jacob's age is not mentioned).
111 Isidore, Chron. mai. 41.
112 Isidore, Chron. B 36–37; Chron. mai. 42–43. Cf. Gen. 50:25.
113 Isidore, Chron. B 38; Chron. mai. 44 (according to Isidore, one hundred and forty-four years).
114 Isidore, Chron. mai. 49.
ON TIMES Moses ruled Israel for forty years.115 Sparta was founded.116 Joshua ruled for twenty-six years.117 The Judges held sway [for four hundred and five years] from Moses to the time of Samuel.118 Othniel ruled for forty years.
Cadmus, the king of Thebes, invented the Greek alphabet.119 Ehud ruled for eighty years.120 The musician Amphion enjoyed renown.121 Deborah ruled for forty years.122 Picus first reigned over the Latins.123 Gideon ruled for forty years.124 /604/ The musicians Orpheus and Linus earned renown.125
Abimelech ruled for three years.126 This man killed his seventy brothers.127
Tola ruled for twenty-three years. Priam reigned over Troy. Jair ruled for twenty-two years.128 Carmentis devised the Latin alphabet.129 Jephthath ruled for six years. Hercules threw himself into the flames. Ibzan ruled for seven years.130 The ten-year Trojan War broke out. Elon ruled for ten years;131 he is not found in the Septuagint. Abdon ruled for eight years.132
Aeneas arrived in Italy.133 Samson ruled for twenty years. Ascanius founded Alba.134 [The book of Judges designates the times up to this point.]135 Eli
115 Isidore, Chron. B 40; Chron. mai. 54.
116 Isidore, Chron. mai. 57.
117 Isidore, Chron. B 42; Chron. mai. 59 (according to Isidore, twenty-seven years; Bede addresses the discrepancy in The Reckoning of Time 66, AM 2519). Cf. Josephus, Ant. 5.1.29
(ed. Blatt, p. 320.22).
118 Cf. Augustine, DCD 16.43 (CCSL 48, 549.41-57) (bracketed phrase, Sg ['395 or 405'],
Giles, Migne; '305' FP only, Mommsen/Jones [Bede's own figures add up to four hundred and five]).
119 Isidore, Chron. B 44–45; Chron. mai. 61–62.
120 Isidore, Chron. B 46; Chron. mai. 65.
121 Isidore, Chron. mai. 63.
122 Isidore, Chron. B 48; Chron. mai. 73.
123 Isidore, Chron. mai. 76.
124 Isidore, Chron. B 50; Chron. mai. 77.
125 Isidore, Chron. mai. 79.
126 Isidore, Chron. B 52; Chron. mai. 81.
127 Isidore, Chron. mai. 82. Cf. Judges 9:5; 9:56.
128 Isidore, Chron. B 54–56; Chron. mai. 83–84; 86.
129 Isidore, Chron. B 57; Chron. mai. 97.
130 Isidore, Chron. B 58–60; Chron. mai. 89–90; 92.
131 Isidore, Chron. mai. 91; 93a. Cf. Judges 12:11.
132 Isidore, Chron. B 62; Chron. mai. 94. Cf. Judges 12:13-14.
133 Isidore, Chron. mai. 96.
134 Isidore, Chron. B 64–65; Chron. mai. 98–99. Cf. Judges 15:20; 16:31.
135 Bracketed sentence, M only, Mommsen/Jones. That is, the periods of rule of the 12 judges from Othniel to Samson. Othniel (forty), Ehud (eighty), Deborah (forty), Gideon (forty),
Abimelech (three), Tola (twenty-three), Jair (twenty-two), Jephthath (six), Ibzan (seven), Elon
(ten), Abdon (eight), Samson (twenty). Cf. The Reckoning of Time 66, AM 2818, where Bede
BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES
ruled for forty years.136 The kingdom of the Sycinians came to an end.137
Samuel and Saul ruled for thirty-two years.138 The kingdom of the Spartans arose.139
20. The Fourth Age The fourth age140 comprises four hundred and seventy-three years according to the Hebrews; the Seventy Translators add on twelve. David ruled for forty years. Carthage was founded by Dido.141 Solomon reigned for forty years;142 he constructed the Temple143 in the four hundred and eightieth year after the exodus from Egypt,144 and from this it is plain /605/ that Samuel and Saul held power for thirty-two years.145 Rehoboam reigned for seventeen years.146
The kingdom of Israel and Judah was divided.147 Abijah reigned for three years.148 The priest Abimelech enjoyed fame.149 Asa reigned for forty-one years.150 Jehu the prophet was killed by Asa [i.e., Baasha] king of Israel.151
Jehoshaphat reigned for twenty-five years. Elijah, Obadiah and Micah prophesied.152 Jehoram reigned for eight years.153 Edom defected from the specifies that the twelve judges governed for two hundred and ninety-nine years.
136 Isidore, Chron. B 66; Chron. mai. 101. Cf. 1 Kings/3 Kings 4:18.
137 Isidore, Chron. mai. 103.
138 Isidore, Chron. B 68; Chron. mai. 104 (Isidore says forty years). Cf. below n. 145, and The Reckoning of Time 66, AM 2790, 2870 and 2890.
139 Isidore, Chron. mai. 105.
140 Isidore, Chron. B 70; Chron. mai. 106a.
141 Isidore, Chron. B 71–72; Chron. mai. 107, 109.
142 Isidore, Chron. B 73; Chron. mai. 111.
143 Isidore, Chron. B 74; Chron. mai. 112.
144 Cf. 1 Kings/3 Kings 6:1; Bede, De Templo 1.393-451 (CCSL 119A, 157–58).
145 xxxii annis, PSg [annis, om. Sg]; xxxii annis non xl, Giles, Migne; xl annis, FHM,
Mommsen/Jones. Bede can hardly have contradicted at this point his own statement at the end of the third age that Samuel and Saul ruled for thirty-two years. His figures confirm this: Moses, after the exodus, forty; Joshua twenty-six; the twelve Judges two hundred and ninety-nine (see above, n. 135); Eli forty; Samuel and Saul thirty-two; David forty; Solomon four. These total four hundred and eighty-one. See above, n. 138.
146 Isidore, Chron. B 75; Chron. mai. 113.
147 Isidore, Chron. B 76.
148 Isidore, Chron. B 77; Chron. mai. 117.
149 Isidore, Chron. mai. 118.
150 Isidore, Chron. B 79; Chron. mai. 119. Cf. 1 Kings/3 Kings 15:10.
151 1 Kings/3 Kings 16:7; cf. Isidore, Chron. B 80; Chron. mai. 120.
152 Isidore, Chron. B 81–82; Chron. mai. 121–22.
153 Isidore, Chron. B 83; Chron. mai. 123.
ON TIMES kingdom of Judah.154 Ahaziah reigned for one year.155 [Jehonadab attained renown.]156 Elijah was carried off [i.e., into heaven].157 Athaliah reigned for six years.158 Jehonadab son of Rechab the priest attained renown.159
Joash reigned for forty years.160 Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, was stoned to death.161 Amaziah reigned for twenty-nine years.162 Amos prophesied in Israel.163 Uzziah reigned for fifty-two years.164
The kingdom of the Assyrians was transferred to the Medes;165 [beginning with Belus], it had lasted one thousand three hundred and five years.166
Jotham reigned for sixteen years.167 Hosea, Joel and Isaiah prophesied.168
Ahaz reigned for sixteen years.169 Rome was founded,170 and Israel went into exile amongst the Medes.171 Hezekiah reigned for twenty-nine years.172
Romulus appointed one hundred senators.173 Manasseh reigned for fifty-five years.174 Numa added two months [i.e., to the calendar].175 Amon reigned for two years.176 Tullius conducted a census of the republic.177 Josiah reigned
154 Cf. 2 Kings/4 Kings 8:20.
155 Isidore, Chron. B 85; Chron. mai. 125. Cf. 2 Kings/4 Kings 8:26.
156 Bracketed sentence M only, Mommsen/Jones (an erroneous scribal insertion? see after Athaliah below). Isidore, Chron. B 88; Chron. mai. 128.
157 Isidore, Chron. B 86; Chron. mai. 126.
158 Isidore, Chron. B 87; Chron. mai. 127 (seven years according to Isidore = the Septuagint). Cf. 2 Chron./2 Para. 22:12.
159 Isidore, Chron. B 88; Chron. mai. 128. Cf. 2 Kings/4 Kings 10:15.
160 Isidore, Chron. B 89; Chron. mai. 130. Cf. 2 Kings/4 Kings 12:1 (Joash).
161 2 Chron./2 Para. 24:20-21; cf. Isidore, Chron. mai. 131.
162 Isidore, Chron. B 91; Chron. mai. 134.
163 Isidore, Chron. mai. 141.
164 Isidore, Chron. B 93; Chron. mai. 135. Cf. 2 Kings/4 Kings 15:1-2.
165 Isidore, Chron. mai. 137.
166 Compare to Bede's revised figure in The Reckoning of Time 66, AM 3192 (bracketed phrase, FPSg only, Giles, Migne, Mommsen/Jones).
167 Isidore, Chron. B 95; Chron. mai. 142.
168 Cf. Isidore, Chron. mai. 144.
169 Isidore, Chron. B 97; Chron. mai. 145.
170 Isidore, Chron. B 98; cf. Chron. mai. 146.
171 Cf. Isidore, Chron. mai. 147.
172 Isidore, Chron. B 99; Chron. mai. 148.
173 Isidore, Chron. mai. 150.
174 Isidore, Chron. B 101; Chron. mai. 151.
175 Isidore, Chron. mai. 152–53; Numa was credited with adding the months of January and February to the ten-month Roman calendar, cf. ch. 6 above, and The Reckoning of Time 12.
176 Isidore, Chron. B 103; Chron. mai. 155 (Isidore says twelve years; see also The Reckoning of Time, AM 3310, where Bede gives the Septuagint figure as twenty).
177 Isidore, Chron. mai. 156. Tullius Hostilius was reputedly the third king of Rome.
BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES
for thirty-one years.178 The natural philosopher Thales enjoyed renown.179
Jehoiakim reigned for eleven years.180 In the third year of his reign Nebuchadnezzar /606/ captured Judea.181 Zedekiah reigned for eleven years.182 The Temple of Jerusalem was burnt.183
21. The Fifth Age The fifth age184 comprises five hundred and eighty-nine years. The captivity of the Hebrews lasted seventy years. The history of Judith was written down. Darius reigned for thirty-six years.185 In the second year of his reign, the captivity of the Jews ended.186 Xerxes reigned for twenty-one years.187 The historian
Herodotus gained recognition.188 Artaxerxes reigned for forty years.189 Ezra restored the Law and Nehemiah, Jerusalem.190 Darius, who was also known as the Bastard,191reigned for nineteen years.192 Plato was born.193 Artaxerxes194 reigned for forty years. The story of Esther was completed.195 Artaxerxes, who also was known as Ochus,196 reigned for twenty-six years.197 Demosthenes and Aristotle declaimed in public.198 Xerxes the son of Ochus199 reigned for four
178 Isidore, Chron. B 105; Chron. mai. 157. Thirty-two years according to Isidore (= the Septuagint).
179 Isidore, Chron. mai. 158.
180 Isidore, Chron. B 107; Chron. mai. 160.
181 Isidore, Chron. mai. 161.
182 Isidore, Chron. B 109; Chron. mai. 163.
183 Isidore, Chron. B 110; cf. Chron. mai. 164.
184 Isidore, Chron. B 111; Chron. mai. 166a.
185 Isidore, Chron. B 112–14; Chron. mai. 167–68; 170. Darius reigned for thirty-four years according to Isidore (= the Septuagint).
186 Isidore, Chron. B 115; Chron. mai. 171.
187 Isidore, Chron. B 116; Chron. mai. 173. Twenty years according to Isidore (= the Septuagint).
188 Isidore, Chron. mai. 175; cf. Etym. 1.42.2.
189 Isidore, Chron. B 118; Chron. mai. 176.
190 Isidore, Chron. B 119; Chron. mai. 177–78.
191 Darius II, the illegitimate son of Artaxerxes I.
192 Isidore, Chron. B 120; Chron. mai. 181.
193 Isidore, Chron. B 121; Chron. mai. 182.
194 Artaxerxes II.
195 Isidore, Chron. B 122–23; Chron. mai. 183–84.
196 Artaxerxes III.
197 Isidore, Chron. B 124; Chron. mai. 186.
198 Isidore, Chron. B 125; Chron. mai. 187–88.
199 Xerxes III (also known as Arses).
ON TIMES years. Xenocrates was famous.200 Darius201 reigned for six years.202
The kingdom of the Persians lasted up to this point; thereafter came the kingdom of the Greeks.203 Alexander reigned for five years, for the seven previous years of his reign are reckoned together with the Persian kings.
Ptolemy the son of Largus reigned for forty years.204 The first book of the Maccabees begins. [Ptolemy] Philadelphus reigned for thirty-eight years. The Seventy Translators won renown. [Ptolemy] Evergetes reigned for twenty-six years. /607/ Jesus [son of Sirach] composed the book of Wisdom. [Ptolemy]
Philopator reigned for seventeen years. The second book of the Maccabees begins.205 [Ptolemy] Epiphanes reigned for twenty-four years. The Romans conquered the Greeks. [Ptolemy] Philometor reigned for thirty-five years.206
Antiochus vanquished him and oppressed the Jews.207 [Ptolemy] Evergetes reigned for twenty-nine years.208 Brutus subjugated Spain.209 [Ptolemy] Soter reigned for seventeen years.210 Varro and Cicero were born.211 Alexander reigned for ten years. Syria was made subject to the Romans by the general
Gabinius. Ptolemy the son of Cleopatra reigned for eight years.212 The historian Sallust was born.213 [Ptolemy] Dionysius reigned for thirty years.
Pompey took Judea. Cleopatra reigned for two years.214
The kingdom of the Greeks lasted up to this point; thereafter came the empire of the Romans. Julius Caesar, after whom the Caesars are named, ruled for five years.215
200 Isidore, Chron. B 126–27; Chron. mai. 190–91.
201 Darius III (the son of Arsamus).
202 Isidore, Chron. B 128; Chron. mai. 192.
203 Isidore, Chron. mai. 194.
204 Isidore, Chron. B 130–31; Chron. mai. 195–96 (Largus, Isidore (some MSS), Bede;
Lagus (correctly), Isidore (other MSS).
205 Isidore, Chron. B 132–38; Chron. mai. 199–201, 204–6, 210.
206 Isidore, Chron. B 139–41; Chron. mai. 209, 210a, 212.
207 Isidore, Chron. mai. 213.
208 Isidore, Chron. B 143; Chron. mai. 215.
209 Isidore, Chron. B 144; cf. Chron. mai. 216.
210 Isidore, Chron. B 145; Chron. mai. 217.
211 Isidore, Chron. mai. 218.
212 Isidore, Chron. B 147–49; Chron. mai. 220–21, 223. The chronology of the later
Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt is confusing. Isidore's and Bede's figures frequently differ from those in modern works of reference.
213 Isidore, Chron. mai. 225.
214 Isidore, Chron. B 151–53; Chron. mai. 226–27, 232.
215 Isidore, Chron. B 155; Chron. mai. 233–34.
BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES
22. The Sixth Age The sixth age216 comprises, to date, seven hundred and three years.217 Octavian reigned for fifty-six years.218 Our Lord was born in the forty-second year of his reign,219 when three thousand nine hundred and fifty-two (or according to others, five thousand one hundred and ninety-nine) years had passed since
Adam.220 [From the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ to the reign of Tiberius there are fourteen years.]221 Tiberius ruled for twenty-three years.222 The Lord was crucified in the eighteenth year of his reign.223 Gaius [Caligula] reigned for four years. Matthew wrote his Gospel. Claudius reigned for fourteen years.224 Peter went to Rome, and Mark to /608/ Alexandria.225 Nero reigned for fourteen years. Peter and Paul were handed over to the cross and the sword. Vespasian reigned for ten years. In the second year of his reign, Titus destroyed Jerusalem. Titus reigned for two years;226 he was eloquent and benevolent.227 Domitian reigned for sixteen years. John was exiled to Patmos.
Nerva reigned for one year.228 On his return to Ephesus, the apostle John composed his Gospel.229 Trajan reigned for nineteen years.230 Simon, the bishop of Jerusalem,231 was crucified, and the apostle John died. Hadrian
216 Isidore, Chron. B 157; Chron. mai. 237a.
217 dcciii, Sg; dccviii, Giles, Migne; dccviiii, Mommsen/Jones. On Times was composed in 703 (see above, ch. 14, and below, ch. 22, n. 315; Jones, BOT, 130; Plummer, BOH, 1, cxlvi). The figures dccviii and dccviiii perhaps arose at the time the exemplars of some of our surviving manuscripts were copied. Makaso Ohashi has argued that the date was deliberately altered in Gaul to conform to Victorius of Aquitaine's chronology: '"Sexta aetas continet annos praeteritos DCCVIIII" (Bede, De temporibus 22): a Scribal Error?'. However, the comparable annus praesens in ch. 14 is not altered, even in these manuscripts. The change could have been introduced at Wearmouth-Jarrow itself, perhaps in the course of preparing a copy of On Times for bishop Acca at his accession in 710, for in that year, seven hundred and nine full years of the Sixth Age would have passed: we owe this suggestion to Peter Darby, University of Birmingham.
218 Isidore, Chron. B 158; Chron. mai. 235.
219 Isidore, Chron. mai. 237.
220 See Commentary.
221 Bracketed sentence EHM only, Mommsen/Jones.
222 Isidore, Chron. B 160; Chron. mai. 238.
223 Isidore, Chron. mai. 239.
224 Isidore, Chron. B 162–64; Chron. mai. 240, 242–43.
225 Isidore, Chron. mai. 244–45.
226 Isidore, Chron. B 166–170; Chron. mai. 246–47, 250–52.
227 Isidore, Chron. B 171.
228 Isidore, Chron. B 172–74; Chron. mai. 257, 259, 262.
229 Isidore, Chron. mai. 263.
230 Isidore, Chron. B 176; Chron. mai. 264.
231 See Introduction, pp. 13–14.
ON TIMES reigned for twenty-one years.232 The translator Aquila was held in high esteem.233 Antoninus Pius reigned for twenty-two years [and four months].234
Valentinus and Marcion enjoyed renown.235 Antoninus the younger236 reigned for nineteen years.237 The heresy of the Cataphrygians arose.238 Commodus reigned for thirteen years. The translator Theodotion was held in high esteem.
Helius Pertinax reigned for one year.239 [He was killed by the treason of the jurist Julianus.]240 [Septimius] Severus Pertinax reigned for eighteen years.241
The translator Symmachus was held in high esteem.242 Antoninus Caracalla reigned for seven years. A fifth version [i.e., of the holy Scriptures] was discovered in Jerusalem. Macrinus reigned for one year.243 [Abgar, a holy man, reigned,244 according to Africanus.]245 Aurelius Antoninus246 reigned for four years.247 A sixth version [of the Scriptures] was found at Nicopolis.248
Alexander reigned for thirteen years. Origen enjoyed fame at Alexandria.
Maximus reigned for three years.249 He persecuted the /609/ Christians.250
232 Isidore, Chron. B 177–78; Chron. mai. 266–68.
233 Isidore, Chron. B 179; Chron. mai. 270. Aquila Ponticus translated the Old Testament from Hebrew into Greek.
234 Isidore, Chron. B 180; Chron. mai. 272 (bracketed phrase, Giles, Migne; mens. iii, FP only, Mommsen/Jones).
235 Isidore, Chron. B 181; Chron. mai. 274.
236 Marcus Aurelius (Marcus Antoninus Verus).
237 Isidore, Chron. B 182; Chron. mai. 276 (eighteen years according to Isidore).
238 Isidore, Chron. B 183; Chron. mai. 277. The Cataphrygians were followers of the second-century heresiarch Montanus.
239 Isidore, Chron. B 184–86; Chron. mai. 278–79, 281.
240 Bracketed sentence M only, Mommsen/Jones. Jerome, Chron. (ed. Helm, p. 210.1617); Orosius 7.16.5-6 (CSEL 5, 473.16). Pertinax was succeeded by Didius Julianus. See The Reckoning of Time 66, AM 4146. The notion that Julianus was a lawyer may result from confusion with the famed jurist Salvius Julianus.
241 Isidore, Chron. B 188; Chron. mai. 283.
242 Isidore, Chron. B 189; Chron. mai. 284. Symmachus translated the Old Testament into Greek.
243 Isidore, Chron. B 190–92; Chron. mai. 288–90.
244 At Edessa.
245 Bracketed sentence M only, Mommsen/Jones. Isidore, Chron. mai. 290b. Africanus is
Julius Africanus, the chronographer and historian (AD 170?–240?).
246 Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, better known as Heliogabalus.
247 Isidore, Chron. B 194; Chron. mai. 291 (Isidore gives the years of Heliogabalus as three; Bede follows Jerome in making them four).
248 Isidore, Chron. mai. 292.
249 Isidore, Chron. B 196–98; Chron. mai. 294–95, 297. Maximus = Maximinus Thrax.
250 Isidore, Chron. mai. 299.
BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES
Gordian reigned for seven years.251 Fabian was honoured as bishop of Rome.252 Philip reigned for seven years.253 He was the first Christian emperor.254 Decius reigned for one year.255 Antony the monk was famous
[in Egypt].256 Gallus and Volusianus reigned for two years. The Novatianist heresy emerged. Valerian reigned with Gallienus for fifteen years. Cyprian won the crown of martyrdom. Claudius reigned for two years.257 Paul of Samosata launched a heresy.258 Aurelian reigned for five years. He persecuted the Christians. Tacitus reigned for one year.259 [Bishop Anatolius of Laodicea in Syria enjoyed renown.]260 Probus reigned for six years. The Manichean heresy arose. Carus reigned for two years. He triumphed over the Persians. Diocletian and Maximian reigned for twenty years.261 Under these persecutors, 17,000 people died within 30 days.262 Valerius263 reigned for two years.264 [The short span of this reign furnished nothing worthy of historical record.]265 Constantine reigned for thirty years. The Council of Nicaea was convened. Constantius and Constans reigned for twenty-four years.266 The bones of Andrew and Luke were translated to Constantinople.267
Julian reigned for two years. Having reverted to paganism from Christianity, he persecuted the Christians. Jovian reigned for one year. Together with his entire army, he converted to Christianity. Valentinian reigned for 251 Isidore, Chron. B 200; Chron. mai. 300.
252 Cf. Isidore, Chron. mai. 301, where the pope is called Flavian.
253 Isidore, Chron. B 202; Chron. mai. 302.
254 Isidore, Chron. B 203; Chron. mai. 303. The claim that Philip (emperor 244–249) was
Christian originates with Eusebius, but is certainly false.
255 Isidore, Chron. B 204; Chron. mai. 305.
256 Isidore, Chron. B 205; Chron. mai. 306 (bracketed phrase, M only, Mommsen/Jones).
257 Isidore, Chron. B 206–10; Chron. mai. 307–10, 313.
258 Isidore, Chron. mai. 315.
259 Isidore, Chron. B 212–14; Chron. mai. 316–18.
260 Bracketed sentence M only, Mommsen/Jones. Cf. Jerome, Chron. (ed. Helm, pp.
223.21-22).
261 Isidore, Chron. B 215-19; Chron. mai. 320-24.
262 his persecutoribus … passi sunt, EHM, Mommsen/Jones; his … christianorum patiuntur, Sg: Liber pontificalis 30 (ed. Duschesne, 1, 162); iste persequitur christianos, FP,
Giles, Migne.
263 Valerius, MSg; Valerianus, EH, Mommsen/Jones; Maximinus Severusque, Giles, Migne. The reference is to Galerius Valerius Maximianus (305–311).
264 Isidore, Chron. B 221; Chron. mai. 327 (Galerius).
265 Bracketed sentence M only, Mommsen/Jones. Isidore, Chron. mai. 328.
266 Isidore, Chron. B 222–24; Chron. mai. 329, 331, 335.
267 Isidore, Chron. mai. 342.
ON TIMES fourteen years.268 He had been deprived of his military command by Julian
/610/ on account of his faith in Christ.269 Gratian reigned for six years.270
The bishops Ambrose and Martin enjoyed renown.271 [Valens reigned for three years.]272 Valentinian273 reigned with Theodosius for nine years.
Jerome preached in Bethlehem.274 [There was a council of 350 bishops in Constantinople, at which all the heresies were condemned.]275 Theodosius, with Arcadius and Honorius, reigned for three years. John the Anchorite enjoyed renown. Arcadius, together with his brother Honorius, reigned for thirteen years.276 The bishops John Chrysostom and Augustine preached.277
Honorius, with Theodosius II, reigned for fifteen years.278 Cyril of Alexandria enjoyed renown.279 [A Council of 214 bishops at Carthage condemned
Pelagius.]280 Theodosius II reigned for twenty-six years.281 The Council of Ephesus condemned Nestorius.282 Marcian reigned for seven years.283 The Council of Chalcedon was held.284 [The English people arrived in Britain.]285
Leo I reigned for seventeen years.286 Egypt was in an uproar over the error of Dioscorus.287 [Leo II reigned for one year. Theodoric the king took Rome.]288
Zeno reigned for seventeen years.289 The body of the apostle Barnabas was found.290 Anastasius reigned for twenty-seven years.291 Bishop Fulgentius
268 Isidore, Chron. B 226–30; Chron. mai. 343–44, 346–48.
269 Augustine, DCD 18.52 (CCSL 49, 651).
270 Isidore, Chron. B 232; Chron. mai. 353.
271 Isidore, Chron. mai. 353, 355.
272 Bracketed sentence P only, Mommsen/Jones.
273 Valentinian II.
274 Isidore, Chron. B 234–35; Chron. mai. 356, 358.
275 Bracketed sentence EHMSg only, Mommsen/Jones. Isidore, Chron. mai. 357.
276 Isidore, Chron. B 236–38; Chron. mai. 362–63, 365.
277 Cf. Isidore, Chron. B 239, 241; Chron. mai. 369–70.
278 Isidore, Chron. B 240; Chron. mai. 371.
279 Isidore, Chron. mai. 375.
280 Bracketed sentence EHMSg only, Mommsen/Jones. Cf. Isidore, Chron. mai. 374.
281 Isidore, Chron. B 242; Chron. mai. 376 (twenty-seven years according to Isidore).
282 Isidore, Chron. mai. 378.
283 Isidore, Chron. B 244; Chron. mai. 380 (six years according to Isidore).
284 Isidore, Chron. B 245; Chron. mai. 381.
285 Bracketed sentence EHM only, Mommsen/Jones.
286 Isidore, Chron. B 246; Chron. mai. 383.
287 Isidore, Chron. B 247; Chron. mai. 384.
288 Bracketed sentence EHM only, Mommsen/Jones.
289 Isidore, Chron. B 248; Chron. mai. 386.
290 Isidore, Chron. mai. 388.
291 Isidore, Chron. B 250; Chron. mai. 389.
BEDE: ON THE NATURE OF THINGS AND ON TIMES
preached.292 Justin reigned for eight years. The heresy of the Acephali was put down.293 [Abbot Benedict enjoyed renown.]294 Justinian reigned for thirty-nine years.295 The first cycle of Dionysius begins in the sixth year of his reign.296 Justin II reigned for eleven years. The Armenians received the faith of Christ. Tiberius reigned for /611/ seven years.297 Herminigild, the king of the Goths, won the crown of martyrdom.298 Maurice reigned for twenty-one years.299 Gregory, the bishop of Rome, flourished.300 Phocas reigned for eight years.301 The Saxons in Britain received the faith of Christ.
Heraclius reigned for thirty-six years.302 The Jews in Spain were compelled to become Christians.303 Heracleonas with his mother Martina reigned for two years.304 [At this time, the heresy of the Acephali was renewed.]305 Constantine, the son of Heraclius, reigned for six months. [At this time, this same heresy of the Acephali was condemned by an anathema.]306 Constantine,307 the son of Constantine, reigned for twenty-eight years. An eclipse of the 292 Isidore, Chron. B 251; cf. Chron. mai. 391.
293 Isidore, Chron. B 252–53; Chron. mai. 394–94a.
294 Bracketed sentence EHM only, Mommsen/Jones. Isidore, Chron. mai. 399c.
295 Isidore, Chron. B 254; Chron. mai. 397.
296 I.e., the first nineteen-year cycle of Dionysius Exiguus, which begins in AD 532. In Krusch's edition of Dionysius's prologue (Krusch, 2, 64), Dionysius explains that he has (a) translated Cyril of Alexandria's table into Latin, and there are six years still to go in that table, and (b) constructed a ninety-five-year extension of Cyril's table, beginning in the year of Diocletian 248, i.e. AD 532. Justinian came to the throne in 527, so Bede is correct that Dionysius's first complete cycle begins in the sixth year of the emperor's reign. However, the tables were composed in 525, when the Cyrillian table still had six years to run. At the end of the prologue (p. 68) Dionysius says that in the present year the indiction is three, the year of the nineteen-year cycle is 13 and the year of the lunar cycle is 10, in the consulship of Probus the Younger, which corresponds to 525.
297 Isidore, Chron. B 256–58; Chron. mai. 401, 401b, 404.
298 Cf. Gregory, Dialogues 3.31 (ed. de Vogüé, Sources chrétiennes 260, pp. 384–89).
299 Isidore, Chron. B 260; Chron. mai. 406.
300 Isidore, Chron. mai. 408b.
301 Isidore, Chron. mai. 410; cf. Chron. B 262 (which states that he reigned for seven years).
302 Cf. Isidore, Chron. B 264; Chron. mai. 414. The manuscripts of DT are not in accord on the number of years of Heraclius's reign; see The Reckoning of Time 66, AM 4591, where
Bede gives the years as twenty-five.
303 Isidore, Chron. B 265; cf. Chron. mai. 416.
304 Adnotationes antiquiores ad cyclos Dionysianos, ed. Mommsen, MGH: AA 9.1, p. 753
[but there is no reference to Martina here].
305 Bracketed sentence M only, Mommsen/Jones.
306 Bracketed sentence M only, Mommsen/Jones.
307 Constans II.
ON TIMES sun took place in the seventh indiction, on the 5th nones of May [3 May].308
Constantine,309 the son of the previous Constantine reigned for seventeen years. He summoned the Sixth [Ecumenical] Council.310 Justinian, the son of Constantine, reigned for ten years.311 [Because of his criminal perfidy he was deposed and sent into exile.]312 Africa was restored to the Roman empire. Leo313 reigned for three years. At present, Tiberius314 has reigned for five years, and it is the first indiction.315 The rest of the sixth age is known to God alone.316
308 Cf. The Reckoning of Time, AM 4622; EH 3.27. The eclipse actually took place on 1
May 664; see Wallis, The Reckoning of Time, commentary on ch. 43.
309 Constantine IV.
310 Liber Pontificalis 82.2 (ed. Duschesne, 1, 359). This was the Third Council of Constantinople, 680–681.
311 Justinian II was deposed after ten years of rule in 685, but regained the throne in 705.
312 Bracketed sentence M only, Mommsen/Jones.
313 Leontius.
314 Tiberius III Apsimar (emperor 698–705).
315 AD 703.
316 Isidore, Chron. B 266; cf. Chron. mai. 418.