> you might see "the last quarter of the second millennium BC", which means minus 2000 to about minus 1750. From comparing some online answers (see links), I'd

> you might see "the last quarter of the second millennium BC", which means minus 2000 to about minus 1750. From comparing some online answers (see links), I'd conclude that even though the numbers are ordered backward, "first"/"last"/"early"/"late" would more commonly be understood to reference the years' relative position in a timeline. That is, "2000 to about minus 1750" would be the first quarter of the second millennium BC. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_century_BC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_century_BC (the "last century BC") https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1akt4zm/this_is_a_question_regarding_the_terminology_used/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1akt4zm/this... https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-first-half-of-the-1st-century-BC https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-first-half-of-the-1st-cent... https://www.quora.com/What-is-meant-by-the-2nd-half-of-the-5th-century-BCE-451-400-BCE https://www.quora.com/What-is-meant-by-the-2nd-half-of-the-5... etc