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Frank,
There was *not* a "year zero". The year after "1 BC" was the year "AD 1".
The Christian Calendar (and that *is* what it is, whether or not people
want to accept it as such) is *not* a number line; IT DOESN'T HAVE A "ZERO"!
Thus, the FIRST year of the FIRST decade of the FIRST century of the FIRST
millenium was the year ANNO DOMINI ONE!!! And since a millenium is ONE
THOUSAND YEARS, that means that the LAST year (i.e., the THOUSANDTH year)
of that first millenium AD was the year AD 1000. Thus, the VERY NEXT YEAR,
the year AD 1001, was the FIRST year of the NEXT millenium. And so on.
The Christian Calendar was *NOT* created by a mathematician,
but but a clerk (or group of clerks) in the Roman Catholic Church,
and we've been stick with it ever since. Regardless of the "back-dating"
(i.e., couting backwards to estimate when Ol' "JC" was born) led to
som einevitable inaccuracies (the latest theories I've heard
is that JC was actually born around 3 BC), the fact remains that
the Christian Calendar had the year 1 BC followed by the year AD 1,
*regardless* of whether or not the year AD 1 was the *actual* year
of the birth of JC. (And don't even get me started on this notion
of Dec. 25 being JC's birthday! It was all political manipulation
by the Vatican during the Dark Ages!!)
Thus, we have these milestones for the determination of millenia:
Year 1000 BC - first year of First Millenium Before Christ
Year 1 BC - *last* year of First Millenium Before Christ
Year AD 1 - the year *immediately* *following* "1 BC";
also, the *first* year of the First Millenium After Christ
Year AD 1000 - the *last* year of the First Millenium
Year AD 1001 - the first year of the *NEXT* (i.e., Second) Millenium
Year AD 2000 - the last year of the Second Millenium
Year AD 2001 - THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW MILLENIUM
Sorry for the vehemence, but I *AM* a mathematician,
as well as a hobbyist historian of the Middle Ages,
and this is one of my major pet peeves.
I truly meant no offense by this explanatory tirade.
Franklin
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