Age of Aries
The Age of Aries is a fictional designation for years, used only in the Ars Magica game. ArM5 does not use the Age of Aries (and neither did ArM1), with very few exceptions.[1] In ArM2 through ArM4, the Order of Hermes generally recorded dates in terms of the Age of Aries, abbreviated AA or A.A., rather than using the AD Christian Calendar.[2][3][4]
Conversion from AA to AD
In Ars Magica canon, the Age of Aries began in 139 B.C.[4] It's tempting to suggest one should simply subtract 139 years to convert a date from AA to AD (and many authors appear to have done exactly this). However, since there was no year Zero on the common calendar, this introduces an error of one year. So to be accurate, one should instead subtract 138. [1] so 1358 AA would be 1220 AD.
Also, according to Age of Aries reckoning, the new year begins in March rather than January.[2]
Astrological Ages
The Age of Aries is an Astrological Age of the Zodiac. However, it is not the correct astrological age corresponding to the real-world medieval period. In Real History, the Age of Aries was from about 1658 BC to 498 BC. The correct astrological age for the Middle Ages would be the Age of Pisces. None the less, Ars Magica consistently used the "Age of Aries" until astrological dates were dropped nearly entirely with ArM5. Perhaps the world of Mythic Europe is oriented 30 degrees east relative to our world, or perhaps (more likely) Atlas Games was aware of the error but didn't consider it important enough to correct.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Houses of Hermes: True Lineages, "House Guernicus", at various points between pp. 47-90, including inserts
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 ArM2 Sourcebook Order of Hermes, pp. 122-124
- ↑ ArM3/ArM4 Sourcebook Houses of Hermes, "Chapter One - Introduction", p. 5
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 ArM3/ArM4 Sourcebook Houses of Hermes, "General Timeline" and "Detailed Timeline", p. 140
Legacy Page
The history of this page before August 6, 2010 is archived at Legacy:age_of_aries