Having read the Imperial date bit over and over again to understand it, coupled with the TT codecies that use the same dating system I have come across a quite interesting question.

If the Dating system is 'r'ddd'yyy'M'mm' R for reliablity, the ddd for day, yyy for year and Mmm for millenium. Some of the dates refer to more than 365 days to a year in fact they suggest 1000. This system is used for all offical documents and communication. Does this mean that it's used to tell ones age too, if so does this mean the human race has evolved to a point that it ages slower?

If this is not the case and humans age one years as 365 days (As an example as every world would have a slight different orbit), then people live a bloody long time, some of the inquistors are over 400 years old, is this standard terran years or imperial years, if it's imperial years then that 400000 days old which is 1095 years old as we understand them.

It makes the mind boggle.

Valdek said:

It should be noted, however, that this kind of treatment is only available to wealthy nobles and very influential political figures such as Inquisitors, Imperial Commanders, Cardinals, Canonesses, etc.

It is probably save to say that the normal life expectancy could be around 100 but is more like 30, 40 on most worlds of the Imperium due to chemical hazards, pollution and working conditions.

The Imperial Calendar system goes all the way back to Rogue Trader days but can be seen in the recent 40k rulebooks too (at least it was in 4th ed, can't remember if the 5th ed book has it).

The digits you have quoted as ddd are actually the segmentum. Essentially the year is divided into 1000 equal segments, around 8.766 hours in duration. This provides a standard time unit used across Imperial worlds. The year is still as it is now, i.e. 365.25 days. The segmentum are used for record keeping by the administratum and generally most regular citizens simply use the year and milenium notation together with some form of local calendar.

thanks Corvald, there is a copy of the notation and reliablity numbers in the Space Marine 5th edition codex, I'm sure i've seen it in a DH book too, but for the life of me couldn't fine it.

Let's not forget that warp travel screws up the time for people: you can be a month in the Warp, yet 10 years has passed real time: making your young 20-something acolyte a 30-something year old man .

Braddoc said:

That'd only affect his age as printed on his records, though, and not his body, right?

I'm honestly not sure about that - given how fickle the warp works, I could just as well imagine that the poor soul ages 20 years within what he thinks is a single month. Goes to bed clean shaven and wakes up with a thick beard on his chin and wrinkles where there were none before.

Lynata said:

Man that would be funny but bad: a ship gets into the warp, gets out later, and is at half crew since most died of old age or sickness. Hmmm..a good explanation for all those pressed-ganged sailors then.....And I guess the 'paper age' is as good as the real thing; the Imperium is a giant bloated bureaucracy; chances are whoever is reading your record before you met them will picture a (let's say) 60 year old man, but see a 20 year old enter the room. I'm betting the first thought that passes is about the Juvenat treatment.

Braddoc said: