AD

AD

should be placed —in recognition of what it stands for (anno Domini, in the year of Our Lord) —before the numerals it relates to, i.e. ad 44 (not 44 ad). It is customary for convenience, however, to write ‘the third century ad’ to correspond to ‘the third century bc’. In print, ad is often put in small capitals. Note that the alternative ce (for ‘Common Era’) is often used (following the date) as a culturally neutral alternative, along with bce (‘before Common Era’). This device seems to satisfy the demands of political correctness despite the fact that it is merely a disguised continuation of the same system.