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It placed the date of creation at 5,508 BC, and was characterized by a certain tendency which prevailed in several parts of the empire to number the years '''‘Apo ‘[[w:Etos Kosmou|Apo Kataboles Kosmou’Kosmou]]’'''- AKK (Greek), or '''‘Ab ‘[[w:Anno Mundi|Ab Origine Mundi’Mundi]]’'''- AM (Latin), that is, from the beginning of the world, which had already been a tradition amongst Hebrews and Jews. The era was calculated as starting on [[September 1|September 1st]], and [[Jesus Christ|Jesus]] was thought to have been born in the year 5509 of the Eastern Roman system.

The earliest extant Christian writings on the age of the world according to the Biblical chronology are by [[w:Theophilus of Antioch|Theophilus]] (AD 115-181), the sixth bishop of Antioch from the Apostles, in his apologetic work ''To Autolycus'',<ref>Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol.2, pp.118-21.</ref> and by [[w:Sextus Julius Africanus|Julius Africanus ]] (AD 200-245) in his ''Five Books of Chronology'' <ref>Ante-Nicene Fathers. vol.6, pp.130-38.</ref>. Both of these early Christian writers, following the [[Septuagint]] version of the [[Old Testament]], determined the age of the world to have been about 5,530 years at the birth of Christ.<ref>Fr. [[Seraphim Rose]]. ''GENESIS, CREATION and EARLY MAN: The Orthodox Christian Vision''. St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, Platina, CA, 2000. p.236.</ref>.

A second dominant system at the time was the The ''[[w:Coptic calendar|"Alexandrian Calendar"]]'', or ''' ''Alexandrian Christian Era'' '''. This was a second dominant system was also present alongside the ''Byzantine Calendar'' until the tenth century, and . It was followed adopted by some church fathers such as [[Maximus the Confessor]] and [[Theophanes the Confessor]], as well as historians such as [[w:George Syncellus|George Syncellus]]. It held the date of creation as being 5493 BC, (rather than 5508 BC) and the start of the year as [[March 25]] (rather than [[September 1]]). [[w:Pope Dionysius of Alexandria|Dionysius of Alexandria]] emphatically quoted mystical justifications for this choice::[[March 25 ]] was considered to be the anniversary of Creation itself. It was the first day of the year in the medieval [[Julian calendar ]] and the nominal vernal equinox (it had been the actual equinox at the time when the Julian calendar was originally designed). Considering that Christ was conceived at that date turned March 25 into the Feast of the [[Annunciation ]] which had to be followed, nine months later, by the celebration of the [[Nativity|birth of Christ]], Christmas, on [[December 25]]. ===Roman MartryologyMartyrology===Some [[w:Traditionalist Catholic|Traditionalist Catholics]] use the year 5199 BC, which is taken from Catholic martyrologies, and referred to as the true date of Creation in the "''Mystical City of God''," a 17th-century mystical work written by Maria de Agreda concerning creation and the life of the Virgin Mary. This year was also used earlier by the church historian [[Eusebius of Caesarea]] in 324.<ref>V. Grumel, La chronologie (1958) 24-25.</ref>

Fr. [[Seraphim Rose]] points out that "even the most mystical Fathers" such as [[Isaac of Syria|St. Isaac the Syrian]] accepted without question the common understanding of the Church that ''the world was created "more or less" in 5,500 BC'':