In 33 AD, the Roman Empire was hit by a major financial crisis. As there was not enough money in circulation, many patrician families failed, and Caesar Tiberius founded a kind of credit bank. In the same year, a road was built in the east of the empire, on the territory of today's Serbia Military road, a six-meter wide stone military road that will be the link between Belgrade and the future Constantinople for more than a thousand years, Slbodan Bubnjević wrote in an article entitled "Thirty Three".
However, for modern civilization, a much more significant legacy is connected with unusual events in distant Judea, where, according to a well-known Christian legend, Jesus Christ was crucified on Golgotha near Jerusalem that very year. The number of years that Christ had at the time of his death, which is generally believed to be 33, was once tried to be accurately calculated by the English physicist Isaac Newton (1643–1727).
Based on the differences between the Julian and Hebrew calendars, as well as the relative visibility of the crescent moon, Newton concluded that the crucifixion took place thirty-three years after the first year of the new era, on April 23, 34 CE. However, more modern research, including a computer simulation, shows that Christ was martyred exactly at the age of 33, no This actually means that he was much more than 33 years old at the time of the crucifixion, since it is commonly believed that the astronomer and monk Dionysius Exygus (470–544) made a mistake when establishing the beginning of the Christian era and that Christ was most likely born in the 4th year BC In addition to Jesus from Judea, it is believed that numerous other historical figures lived for 33 years - probably the most famous military leader Alexander the Macedonian (356–323 BC) ).
Around the number 33, which breaks down into two simple numbers 3 and 11, and in arithmetic represents the sum of the first four factorials (1!+2!+3!+4!), all kinds of traditions are intertwined. Thus, in the version with the number of years of Christ, there are 33 knots in the so-called small rosary (large ones also have 50, 100 or 108 knots each), which is most often used as a profane decoration for the hand or even a car mirror.
But the number 33 is also connected to other symbols - in radio communication, the 33 code is used to indicate an emergency situation, there are 33 signs in the symbol of the United Nations, 33 letters make up the Russian alphabet, and 33 happiness is a phrase that often occurs among the Slavic peoples. in fairy tales, like 33 rich men or 33 troubles.
In nature, 33 nucleons make up the nucleus of an arsenic atom, a multi-colored metalloid that has historically been popular as a fairly deadly poison. In addition, 33 percent of the Earth's surface is desert, and it is particularly interesting that exactly 33 years will pass each time before the sun rises at exactly the same place on the horizon.
In addition to trying to calculate the years of Christ, in his more esoteric research, Newton was also involved in forecasting the day when the sun will no longer be on the horizon, thus establishing that the end of the world can be expected in 2060. If Newton was right, every sunrise we see now happens for the last time at that very spot.
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