Hyborian Timelines

[Boreas]

Hey everyone,

Does anybody know of a resource for specific Hyborian timelines,
giving for example - a kingdom, & the period of rule for each king,
queen etc, as well as definitive events during that time...?

eg Aquilonia: year 123 - 456 king X, year 456 - 789 king Y... etc
Ophir: year 123 - 345 king Q, year 345 - 678 king R
Stygia:... well I hope you get my drift...

I can't remember seeing anything quite like that.

Thanks in advance for your wisdom.

 

[Yogah of Yag]

That would be a capital idea!
Many ancient lands measured time in that fashion ("in the fourth year of the reign of King/Pharaoh N.N."). The Romans measured in terms of the offices of the consuls. (Would Nemedia, or Corinthia have a consular gov't?), I'll have to check Road of Kings. Obviously this sounds more "antique", whereas using exact numbers like AD 1492 sound all too modern. I don't think Caesar would have said something like "In 50 BC I was knocking around in ol' Gaul and decided to rough up a couple of the tribes, just so I could brag about it in my best-seller The Gallic War."

The Romans also used the system Ab urbe condita, referring to the founding of Rome. Tarantia or other big cities with a rich history may make use of this...

In the European Middle Ages they used a system of Anno mundi, figuring that Adam and the Eve (or Judith???) munched the apple only a few thousand years previously.

Just some ideas...

 

[urdinaran]

I think it's a great idea, one I would love to see happen.

Problem is, how much REH material actually has timelines or time references in it? How much pastiche is reasonable to accept? How much Conan specific material will be included? And is anyone at Mongoose going to pour over and sift through all these materials to create a timeline?

 

[Vincent791]

It would be something awesome! But I don't think that it's a good idea to "invent" those timeliness, I'd rather have the only ones that could be supported by the Howard's stories.

IMO part of the charm is that it can't be verified and that way it can be taken for real.

 

[Evil_Trevor]

Howards stories (aided by L Sprauge de camp and Lin Carter) mark time by saying things like "Conan is about thirty" and give virtualy no refernce to time, there are some works on the timeline of the Conan stories (what order they come in and the time between them) one version here http://www.markbsplace.net/conan/ConanTimeline.html shows roughly how it sort-of fits together but there are some other varients (the one above includes non-howard references and avoids the film versions altogether) .

 

[René]

I don't think Caesar would have said something like "In 50 BC I was knocking around in ol' Gaul and decided to rough up a couple of the tribes, just so I could brag about it in my best-seller The Gallic War."

Various timelines:
For problems like these I almost always found my national wikipedia very helpful. Usually you get some book recommendations that are available at better libraries.

 

[The King]

Though Howard gave the names of the rulers he never told how long they reigned.

 

[decker423]

For my campaign, I've created a Nemedian calendar for the "game". The Nemedians are known for academics and given their royal association with the Dragon, I created Nemedia's "Dragon Calendar". I had the calendar created by one of the more ancient Nemedian Kings. Given Nemedia's reputation for academics and knowledge, most of the western worlds have "accepted" this calendar as their semi-official, historical calendar.
Most peasants and those working with the world (hunters, shepherds, etc.) still use the natural cycle of time (Spring-Summer-Fall-Winter with appropriate solstices/equinoxes). It's the nobility and scholars of the nations that reference the Dragon Calendar.
The Dragon Calendar starts at the year 1 when the first (in their recorded history anyway) Nemedian King ascended the Dragon Throne.

 

[decker423]

Howards stories (aided by L Sprauge de camp and Lin Carter) mark time by saying things like "Conan is about thirty" and give virtualy no refernce to time.

There is a letter written from Robert E. Howard to someone (I forgot who) that states that Conan was around 40 years old during the story "Beyond The Black River" and that was the same year he became King of Aquilonia. You can make some speculated guesses from that.