Indiction
indiction
Chronological epoch used in papal and other documents; conventional periods of 15 years reckoned in East from 1 September 312; in West from 24 September 312. Roman, Papal, or Pontifical Indictions introduced in 9th century made series start from beginning of civil year, either 25 December or 1 January.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Indiction
(Latin indictio, a declaring) is a term which designates a chronological system, including a circle of fifteen years:
(1) the Caesarean, used long in France and Germany, beginning on Sept. 24;
(2) the Constantinopolitan, used in the East from the time of Anastasius, and beginning Sept. 1; and
(3) the Papal, reckoned from Jan. 1,313. The Council of Antioch, 341, first gives a documentary date, the 14th indiction. The computation prevailed in Syria in the fifth century, and is mentioned by Ambrose as existing at Rome. It is, however, asserted that in the West, the East, and Egypt, with the exception of Africa, the indictions, until the 16th century, were reckoned from Sept. 1, 312, and that they commenced in Egypt in the time of Constantine. Walcott, Sacred Archaeology, p. 327; see also Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 2, 141. SEE CYCLE.