Holiday Year, Year 0

The year zero in the history of the Third Imperium, established by Cleon I to commemorate the establishment of the Imperium.

Technically an aspect of calendar reform, the use of the year zero provides a central date point for counting years back into the Long Night and forward into the future of the Imperium.

The actual advantages of a holiday year are slight; centuries begin in the hundredth numbered year instead of the first numbered year, and the number of years between any two dates can be determined by subtraction.

More importantly at the time, the holiday year was used as part of the public relations campaigns which were impressing the authority of the Imperium upon local governments. The minor requirement of changing to the new calendar was used to determine co-operation by those governments.

(SUPP-8, 1107; MT-ENCYC, 1120)

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