Ordering periods in time
A timeline is a line that shows events in order of time. Old events go on the left. New events go on the right.
BCE and CE
CE means 'Common Era'. BCE means 'Before Common Era'. Years in BCE count down towards 1 CE. So 100 BCE is older than 27 BCE. Years in CE count up. There is no year 0.
Century
A century is 100 years. The 1st century CE is years 1 to 100. The 13th century CE is 1201 to 1300. Tip: the century number is one more than the hundreds figure. So 1206 is in the 13th century.
Why lanes?
One line cannot show many places. So we draw one lane for each region. Then we can read down a column and see what happened at the same time in different places. This is called comparing or synchronising events.
Periods, not just dates
A period is a stretch of time with a name, like 'the Roman Empire' or 'the Tang dynasty'. Periods have a start and an end. Some periods overlap: for example, the Abbasids and the Tang both ruled around 800 CE.
Lane by lane: what happened where
Europe and the Mediterranean
- About 27 BCE: Augustus becomes the first Roman emperor.
- 312 CE: Emperor Constantine accepts Christianity. 330 CE: Constantinople becomes the new capital.
- 476 CE: the western Roman Empire ends. The eastern (Byzantine) empire lasts until 1453.
- From about 800 CE: feudal society in western Europe (lords, knights, peasants). Charlemagne is crowned in 800.
- 1095 onwards: the Crusades, wars between Christian Europe and Muslim rulers over Jerusalem.
West Asia and North Africa
- About 610 CE: Prophet Muhammad begins preaching in Mecca.
- 622 CE: the Hijra (move to Medina), year 1 of the Islamic calendar.
- 661–750: Umayyad caliphs (capital Damascus). 750–1258: Abbasid caliphs (capital Baghdad), a centre of learning.
- 1258: the Mongols capture Baghdad.
China and Central Asia
- 206 BCE–220 CE: Han dynasty. The Silk Route grows.
- 618–907: Tang dynasty. 960–1279: Song dynasty (printing, compass, paper money).
- 1206: Genghis Khan unites the Mongols. 1271: Kublai Khan starts the Yuan dynasty in China.
South Asia
- About 1st century CE: Kushanas in the north, Satavahanas in the Deccan; trade with Rome.
- About 320–550 CE: Gupta empire.
- About 850–1279: Chola kingdom in the south, strong at sea.
- 1206: the Delhi Sultanate begins.
Other regions
In the Americas, the Maya built cities; in East Africa, trading towns grew on the coast. They also belong to this time, even if our lanes do not show them.
Try it: make your own lane timeline
Take a long strip of paper. Draw one line. Mark 100 BCE at the left and 1300 CE at the right. Mark every 200 years. Now draw five lanes: Rome, Islamic world, China, Europe, India. Colour a block for each period from the lists above. Then put a ruler straight down at 800 CE. Write down who ruled in each lane. Check with the slider in the 3D (step 6).
Key formulas and definitions
- BCE years count down, CE years count up; there is no year 0
- Years between a BCE date and a CE date = BCE year + CE year − 1
- Century = (hundreds figure) + 1, e.g. 1206 → 13th century
- 27 BCE Roman Empire begins; 476 CE western empire ends
- 622 CE Hijra; 750–1258 Abbasids
- 1206: Genghis Khan and the Delhi Sultanate
Worked examples
1. Which is older: 100 BCE or 27 BCE?
BCE years count down towards 1 CE. So a bigger BCE number is further back. 100 BCE is older than 27 BCE.
2. How many years passed from 27 BCE to 476 CE?
One date is BCE and the other is CE, and there is no year 0. Years = 27 + 476 − 1 = 502 years.
3. In which century was Baghdad captured by the Mongols (1258)?
The hundreds figure of 1258 is 12. Add 1. So it is the 13th century CE.
4. Name two things happening around 800 CE in different lanes.
Read down the column at 800 CE: the Abbasid caliphs ruled from Baghdad; Tang China was still ruling; Charlemagne was crowned in Europe; the eastern Roman Empire ruled from Constantinople.
Common mistakes
- Thinking 100 BCE comes after 27 BCE. BCE numbers get smaller as time moves forward.
- Adding a year 0 when counting from BCE to CE. There is no year 0, so subtract 1.
- Saying 1206 is in the 12th century. It is in the 13th century (1201–1300).
- Thinking the whole Roman Empire ended in 476. Only the western half ended; the eastern half lasted until 1453.