Study Avodah Zarah folio 9A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
מלכות פרס בפני הבית שלשים וארבע שנה, מלכות יון בפני הבית מאה ושמונים שנה, מלכות חשמונאי בפני הבית מאה ושלש, מלכות בית הורדוס מאה ושלש, מכאן ואילך צא וחשוב כמה שנים אחר חורבן הבית.
The Persian Empire, which ruled the world before the construction of the Temple, continued to do so for 34 years in the presence of the Temple, i.e., after the Temple was built; the Greek Empire ruled for 180 years in the presence of the Temple; the Hasmonean dynasty ruled for 103 years in the presence of the Temple; and the Herodian dynasty likewise ruled for 103 years. From this point forward, you can go and calculate the date on which an event occurred by how many years it happened after the destruction of the Temple.
אלמא מאתן ושית הוו, ואת אמרת מאה ושמונים הוו! אלא עשרין ושית שנין קמו בהימנותייהו בהדי ישראל, ולא אישתעבדו בהו, ואמטו להכי לא קא חשיב להו כשפשטה מלכות הרשעה על ישראל.
According to this statement of R' Yosei, evidently when the Greek rule over the Jewish people ended and the Roman rule began it was 206 years before the Second Temple was destroyed, i.e., the two sets of 103 years of the Hasmonean dynasty and the Herodian dynasty. But you said that when the Roman Empire stretched forth over Israel and ruled over them it was 180 years before the Temple was destroyed. This is not a contradiction, but rather, it proves that for 26 years the Romans stood faithfully with the Jewish people, honoring their agreement, and did not subjugate them. And therefore, R' Yishmael, son of R' Yosei, does not count these 26 years among the total years in which the evil Roman Empire stretched forth over Israel and ruled over them.
אמר רב פפא: אי טעי האי תנא, ולא ידע פרטי כמה הוה — לישייליה לספרא כמה כתיב, וניטפי עלייהו עשרין שנין, ומשכח ליה לחומריה, וסימניך: ״זה לי עשרים שנה אנכי בביתך״.
§ Apropos the above baraita, the Talmud relates that Rav Pappa said: If this tanna, i.e., one who dates years in reference to the destruction of the Temple, forgot and did not know the details of the date with regard to exactly how much time had passed since the destruction of the Temple, e.g., he remembered the century but could not recall the exact decade and year, let him ask a scribe who writes official documents how many years he writes when he dates the documents. The dating system of scribes uses as its starting point the beginning of the Greek rule, 380 years before the destruction of the Temple. And let him add 20 years to the number, and in this manner he will find his number [leḥumreih]. And your mnemonic to remember this is the verse: “These 20 years have I been in your house” (Genesis 31:41).