Page:The Journal of Classical and Sacred Philology, Volume 1, 1854.djvu/62

52 IV. On the Dating of Ancient History. The object of the following paper is to examine the various ways in use of exhibiting the dates of events in ancient history, that is, before the Christian era : and to find out whether, sup- posing them to be defective, any better way can be found. It will be convenient in the outset of such an inquiry, to go over very briefly the history of historical reckoning or dating in the practical view of it ; that is to say, setting aside chronolo- gical investigation, or the manner in which chroniclers and chro- nologers have discovered and rectified the dates of events, to run through the history of the manner in which, at different times, they have exhibited or represented them 1 . For chronology, time must first have been measured, then have been marked, and then have events arranged in their proper places along it. By the measurement of time is meant the nature of the months, years, and cycles, in use among any people : by the marking of it, is meant the manner in which any one portion of it is distinguished from another similar one, or since years are the ordinary historical units of time, the manner of distinguish- ing one year from another. A good chronology, or a clear chro- nological conception, is a distinct notion of events in their proper sequence, referred to, associated with, and as it were framed in, a distinctly marked course of time. Trustworthy chronology can rest only upon contemporary registering or recording, because tradition, except in very rare cases, gives us no measurement. A register or record implies a previous marking of time more or less distinctly, and is a con- temporary referring of something to the time thus marked. The manner of the marking of time may be by a succession of names of individuals, with each of which names a certain portion of time is more or less associated; then the reckoning is called 1 If we were inclined to assist our time, as distinguished from the other thoughts by making new names, this two parts here alluded to, namely, chro- part of chronology might be called chro- nonomy, or the distribution and measure- nognosy, or epochology, the science, that ment of time, and synchrony, or the co- in, of the marking and recognition of ordination and arrangement of events.