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One other way of time keeping in the ancient world was to count years relative to the Olympic Games. Since the Olympiads were held once every four years, the years were designated as “the first” (second, third, fourth) since the year of a specific Olympiad. The reference point for the first year of the first Olympiad corresponds to July 1, 776 BNE.

To convert a year based on the Olympiad into the NE system, the following formula was used:

R = [(Ol – 1) * 4 + (t – 1)] – 775,

where “Ol” is the number of the Olympic Games, and “t” is the number of the year since the Olympiad.

For example, the 4th year of the 48th Olympiad (Ol. 48.4) converts into -584 NE, or 585 BNE. This was the year of the eclipse of Thales (see Pliny the Elder. Natural History, 2,12).