{"id":4662,"date":"2019-09-23T21:06:59","date_gmt":"2019-09-23T21:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/?p=4662"},"modified":"2019-09-23T21:06:59","modified_gmt":"2019-09-23T21:06:59","slug":"roman-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/latin\/roman-months\/","title":{"rendered":"Roman Months"},"content":{"rendered":"

Salvete Omnes,<\/p>\n

Recently, I was having a conversation with my husband about the months of the year and the days of the week. While the days of week are more Germanic in nature (for English at least), the months of the year have a very interesting history. So, let’s dive in.<\/p>\n

The Roman calendar used a system of months, and special days in each month. Some calendars were carved in marble or stone, but many were painted on walls for decoration.<\/p>\n

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Fasti Antiates maiores – zoom. Owner Patatruc. WikiCommons.<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

In 45 B.C.E., Romans modified their method of marking time to keep it in phase with season. Eventually, they accomplished the Julian Calendar. Month lengths were extended to bring the calendar\u2019s total to 365 days, making it truly solar. This change was accompanied by addition of an extra day every fourth year (after February 23rd) because of the almost six extra hours beyond 365 days in a tropical year.<\/p>\n

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Ovid’s monument of Constan\u021ba. Owner of photo: Ettore Ferrari. WikiCommons<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

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Copy of Plutarch at Chaeronia, Greece. Owner Odysses. WikiCommons<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Much of the knowledge we now have about early Roman calendars came from Ovid’s Fasti, a Roman born in 43 B.C.E., and from Plutarch, a Greek biographer who wrote between C.E. 105 and 115.<\/p>\n

Initially, it contained only ten months. It has been suggested that those month lengths reflected growth cycles of crops and cattle. When compared with the solar year, it had an uncounted winter period of approximately sixty days.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Months in the Republican Calendar
\n(Common Year)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Month Names<\/th>\nNumber of Days<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Januarius<\/td>\n29<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Februarius<\/td>\n28<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Martius<\/td>\n31<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Aprilis<\/td>\n29<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Maius<\/td>\n31<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Iunius<\/td>\n29<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Quintilis<\/td>\n31<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sextilis<\/td>\n29<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
September<\/td>\n29<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
October<\/td>\n31<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
November<\/td>\n29<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
December<\/td>\n29<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

As you can see from the chart above, that many of the months we will still use today are from Ancient Rome.<\/p>\n

January — Janus’s month<\/h2>\n
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Head of Janus, Vatican museum, Rome. Owner: Loudon dodd. WikiCommons.<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

ETYMOLOGY:<\/strong><\/span> <\/a>Middle English\u00a0Januarie<\/i>
\nLatin\u00a0Januarius<\/i>\u00a0“of Janus”
\nLatin\u00a0Janu(s)<\/i>\u00a0“Janus” + –arius<\/i>\u00a0“ary (pertaining to)”
\nLatin\u00a0Januarius mensis<\/i>\u00a0“month of Janus”<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND:<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 Janus is the Roman god of gates and doorways, depicted with two faces looking in opposite directions. His festival month is January. Januarius had 29 days, until Julius when it became 31 days long. There was also disagreement in Ovid\u2019s day as to the sequence and time at which Januarius (<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0Februarius)<\/i>\u00a0were added to the original ten months.\u00a0Januarius<\/i> became part of the calendar within half a century after Rome was founded because Plutarch said that Numa, the king who followed Romulus, made it the first month of the year and made February the last.<\/p>\n

<\/a>February — month of Februa<\/h2>\n

ETYMOLOGY:<\/strong><\/span> <\/a>Middle English\u00a0Februarius<\/i>
\nLatin\u00a0Februarius<\/i>\u00a0“of Februa”
\nLatin\u00a0Februa(s)<\/i>\u00a0“Februa” + –arius<\/i>\u00a0“ary (pertaining to)”
\nLatin\u00a0Februarius mensis<\/i>\u00a0“month of Februa”
\nLatin\u00a0dies februatus<\/i>\u00a0“day of purification”<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND:<\/strong><\/span> Februarius had 28 days, until circa 450 BC when it had 23 or 24 days on some of every second year, until Julius when it had 29 days on every fourth year and 28 days otherwise. Also, adding five days at year-end (to extend February\u2019s length to 28) is similar to the change made by many other peoples who, around the time of Rome\u2019s founding, added five days to their own calendar, but considered them to be unlucky and not part of the normal year.<\/a>Februa is the Roman festival of purification, held on February fifteenth. It is possibly of Sabine origin.<\/p>\n

<\/a>March — Mars’ month<\/h2>\n
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Mars wearing a breastplate, Ancient Roman bronze figurine. (Public Domain)<\/p><\/div>\n

ETYMOLOGY:<\/strong><\/span><\/a>Middle English\u00a0March(e)<\/i>
\nAnglo-French\u00a0March(e)<\/i>
\nOld English\u00a0Martius<\/i>
\nLatin\u00a0Martius<\/i>\u00a0“of Mars”
\nLatin\u00a0Marti(s)<\/i>\u00a0“Mars” + –us<\/i>\u00a0(adj. suffix)
\nLatin\u00a0Martius mensis<\/i>\u00a0“month of Mars”<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND:<\/strong><\/span> Martius\u00a0has always had 31 days.<\/a>March was the original beginning of the year, and the time for the resumption of war. <\/a><\/a>Mars is the Roman god of war. He is identified with the Greek god\u00a0Ares<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/a>April — Aphrodite’s month<\/h2>\n

<\/a>ETYMOLOGY:<\/strong><\/span>Old English\u00a0April(is)<\/i>
\nLatin\u00a0Aprilis<\/i>
\nEtruscan\u00a0Apru<\/i>
\nGreek\u00a0Aphro<\/i>, short for\u00a0Aphrodite<\/i>.<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND: <\/strong><\/span>Aprilis<\/i> had 30 days, until Numa when it had 29 days, until Julius when it became 30 days long. <\/a>\u00a0According to Ovid, April was sacred to Venus, and her festival \u2013 the Festum Veneris and Fortuna Virilis \u2013 occurred on the first day of this month.” Apparently Aprilis<\/i>\u00a0stems from aphrilis, corrupted from Aphrodite, a Greek name for Venus.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>May — Maia’s month<\/h2>\n

<\/a>ETYMOLOGY:<\/strong><\/span>Old French\u00a0Mai<\/i>
\nOld English\u00a0Maius<\/i>
\nLatin\u00a0Maius<\/i>\u00a0“of Maia”
\nLatin\u00a0Maius mensis<\/i>\u00a0“month of Maia”<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND: <\/strong><\/span>Maius<\/i>\u00a0has always had 31 days.<\/a>Maia (meaning “the great one”) is the Italic goddess of spring, the daughter of Faunus, and wife of Vulcan. Maius<\/i>\u00a0was said by some to be named after the goddess\u00a0Maia<\/i>, a daughter of Atlas, and\u00a0Junius<\/i>\u00a0“is indirectly named after the goddess\u00a0Juno<\/i>, the Roman equivalent of Frigga.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>June — Juno’s month<\/h2>\n

<\/a>ETYMOLOGY:<\/strong><\/span>Middle English\u00a0jun(e)<\/i>
\nOld French\u00a0juin<\/i>
\nOld English\u00a0junius<\/i>
\nLatin\u00a0Junius<\/i>\u00a0“of Juno”
\nLatin\u00a0Junius mensis<\/i>\u00a0“month of Juno”<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND: <\/strong><\/span>Junius<\/i>\u00a0had 30 days, until Numa when it had 29 days, until Julius when it became 30 days long.<\/a>Juno is the principle goddess of the Roman Pantheon. She is the goddess of marriage and the well-being of women. She is the wife and sister of Jupiter. She is identified with the Greek goddess\u00a0Hera<\/a>.<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

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The Tusculum portrait, possibly the only surviving sculpture of Caesar made during his lifetime. Archaeological Museum, Turin, Italy (Public Domain<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a>July — Julius Caesar’s month<\/h2>\n

<\/a>ETYMOLOGY:<\/strong><\/span>Middle English\u00a0Julie<\/i>
\nLatin\u00a0Julius<\/i>\u00a0“Julius”
\nLatin\u00a0Julius mensis<\/i>\u00a0“month of Julius”
\nLatin\u00a0quintilis mensis<\/i>\u00a0“fifth month”<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND: <\/strong><\/span>Quintilis<\/i>\u00a0(and later\u00a0Julius<\/i>) has always had 31 days. <\/a>Julius Caesar reformed the Roman calendar (hence the Julian calendar) in 46 BC. In the process, he renamed this month after himself.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>August — Augustus Caesar’s month<\/h2>\n

<\/a>ETYMOLOGY:<\/strong><\/span>Latin\u00a0Augustus<\/i>\u00a0“Augustus”
\nLatin\u00a0Augustus mensis<\/i>\u00a0“month of Augustus”
\nLatin\u00a0sextilis mensis<\/i>\u00a0“sixth month”<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND: <\/strong><\/span>Sextilis<\/i> had 30 days, until Numa when it had 29 days, until Julius when it became 31 days long.\u00a0<\/a>Augustus Caesar clarified and completed the calendar reform of Julius Caesar. In the process, he also renamed this month after himself.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>September — the seventh month<\/h2>\n

<\/a>ETYMOLOGY:<\/strong><\/span>Middle English\u00a0septembre<\/i>
\nLatin\u00a0September<\/i>
\nLatin\u00a0septem<\/i>\u00a0“seven” +\u00a0-ber<\/i>\u00a0(adj. suffix)
\nLatin\u00a0september mensis<\/i>\u00a0“seventh month”<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND:<\/strong><\/span><\/a>September<\/i>\u00a0had 30 days, until Numa when it had 29 days, until Julius when it became 30 days long.<\/p>\n

<\/a>October — the eighth month<\/h2>\n

<\/a>ETYMOLOGY:<\/strong><\/span>Middle English\u00a0octobre<\/i>
\nLatin\u00a0October<\/i>
\nLatin\u00a0octo<\/i>\u00a0“eight” +\u00a0-ber<\/i>\u00a0(adj. suffix)
\nLatin\u00a0october mensis<\/i>\u00a0“eighth month”<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND:<\/strong><\/span><\/a>October<\/i>\u00a0has always had 31 days.<\/p>\n

<\/a>November — the nineth month<\/h2>\n

<\/a>ETYMOLOGY:<\/strong><\/span>Middle English\u00a0Novembre<\/i>
\nLatin\u00a0November<\/i>
\nLatin\u00a0Novembris mensis<\/i>\u00a0“nineth month”<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND:<\/strong><\/span><\/a>Novembris<\/i>\u00a0had 30 days, until Numa when it had 29 days, until Julius when it became 30 days long.<\/p>\n

<\/a>December — the tenth month<\/h2>\n

<\/a>ETYMOLOGY:<\/strong><\/span>Middle English\u00a0decembre<\/i>
\nOld French\u00a0decembre<\/i>
\nLatin\u00a0december<\/i>\u00a0“tenth month”
\nLatin\u00a0decem<\/i>\u00a0“ten” +\u00a0-ber<\/i>\u00a0(adj. suffix)<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND:<\/strong><\/span><\/a>December<\/i>\u00a0had 30 days, until Numa when it had 29 days, until Julius when it became 31 days long.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Intercalaris — inter-calendar month<\/h2>\n

<\/a><\/a>ETYMOLOGY:<\/strong><\/span>Latin\u00a0Intercalaris<\/i>\u00a0“inter-calendar”
\nLatin\u00a0Mercedonius<\/i>\u00a0(popular name) “?”<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND:<\/strong><\/span><\/a> <\/a>Intercalaris<\/i> had 27 days until the month was abolished by Julius Caesar. \u00a0It theoretically occurred every two (or occasionally three) years, but was sometimes avoided or employed by the\u00a0Roman pontiffs for political reasons regardless of the state of the solar year. It was also known as Mercedonius\u00a0<\/b>meaning “Work Month” in Latin.<\/p>\n

Well, I hope this helps with any future conversations or debates regarding the months of the year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Salvete Omnes, Recently, I was having a conversation with my husband about the months of the year and the days of the week. While the days of week are more Germanic in nature (for English at least), the months of the year have a very interesting history. So, let’s dive in. The Roman calendar used…<\/p>\n

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