On the Phantom Time Hypothesis

How do we know that the fall of Rome in 479 AD was 1,546 years ago? Empires have risen and fallen since then, a dark age took place, historical records are fragmentary, not continuous, and they are often politically motivated or even fabricated. Do we really have any confidence that the Earth has gone round the Sun 1,546 times since Rome fell? Can we really trust the historical timeline?

There are some compelling arguments that there are a couple of hundred to even a thousand extra years in our timeline - years that didn’t actually exist. One version is that Holy Roman Emperor Otto III and Pope Sylvester II conspired to add 279 years to the Anno Domini dating system in order to place themselve ...