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The Roman Calendar Gave Us Our Months
The Romans gave us the names of the months of the year. Their calendar was based on lunar activity, and it was supplanted by the solar-based Julian calendar and then the more accurate Gregorian calendar, which most Western nations use today.
Months or mensis were named in honour of Roman gods and goddesses, or less grandly, they were awarded a number like sextilis for the sixth month. The length of mensis was also determined by a nundial cycle. Nundial days were the market days or Nunindae, days off in their eight-day weeks.
The earliest Roman calendar had ten mensis and a period that remained unnamed and "dead" because no state or military business was conducted during that time. These became the northern hemisphere winter months of January and February.
Their year had 304 days, and the 61 dead days simply passed in reflection as people waited for Martius or March. With March's arrival, activities were resumed, and they concluded in December, the Latin for ten being decem.
The Roman Twelve-Month Calendar
The Romans adjusted the calendar from ten to twelve months, and Januarius and Februarius were created.
Full months had 31 days, hollow months had 29, and there was a 28-day month. This made the Roman year 355 days long. Leap days or Mercedonius occurred every few years to correct the calendar as they understood it.
This arrangement was superseded by Julius Caesar's Julian calendar, which was based on solar cycles. This was introduced in 45 B.C., and it was thought to be considerably more accurate, but it was recalculated for the Gregorian calendar.
Roman Inspiration for the Gregorian Calendar
Month Name Today - English. | Roman Calendar Name for the Month - Latin. | Roman Month of the Year. |
|---|---|---|
January | Januarius. Originally given no name. No state/military business conducted. | Time of reflection. Dead month. |
February | Februarius. Originally given no name. No state/military business conducted. | Time of reflection. Dead month. |
March | Martius | 1st |
April | Aprilis | 2nd |
May | Maius | 3rd |
June | Junius | 4th |
July | Quintilis later Julius after Julius Caesar. | 5th |
August | Sextilis later August after Emperor Augustus. | 6th |
September | September | 7th |
October | October | 8th |
November | November | 9th |
December | December | 10th |
January, February, March and April
January was named in honour of the Roman god Janus, the gatekeeper between the old and the new. Janus has two faces. One looks to the past, and one gazes into the future. The temple of Janus was closed during the designated no-warfare time that became our January and February. The temple reopened in March, the god of war's month.
February comes from the Latin word februa meaning to cleanse. The festival of Februlia was held in this month, and it was an opportunity to achieve atonement for what had passed and to be purified prior to business resuming.
March, Mar's mensis, boasted many Roman festivals and celebrations of the resumption of state and military affairs after the period of reflection.
Aprilis came from the word aperio which meant to open, as in a bud. This was a reference to nature coming back to life as the days grew longer. The message of Aprilis was renewal.
May, June, July and August
May was named in honour of the Roman goddess Maia. This earth goddess was known as a nurturer. The Roman elders were called the maiores and during this month, they were celebrated by their people.
June received its name from the goddess of marriage and womanly welfare, Juno. How many weddings are carried out in June? How many brides wish to be "June brides"? Juno's legacy is a long one.
The Romans appear to have run out of inspiration when they reached the latter months of their year because they awarded them the names of 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th mensis.
Quintilis was the fifth month of the Roman year. It was only after Julius Caesar's death in 44 B.C. that the month was renamed July in his honour. During his lifetime, Julius commissioned Soginenes to create the new Julian calendar.
August was their sixth month, and it was named in honour of Julius' descendant, the first Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar (63 B.C.–14 A.D.).
It is a common misconception that both July and August only have 31 days because days were stolen from February to increase their prestige.
September, October, November and December
The roots for the last four months of the Roman year were in the Latin words sept, octo, novem and decem.
Interestingly, whenever the Roman authorities tried (several times) to rename October after a god, the population rejected the alteration as they saw no need to complicate matters.
The kalends were the first day of each month, and this marked the day when bills, debts and other financial matters were normally settled. Every kalend was in reverence to Juno. From kalends we get the name calendar.
Nones were either the 5th day of a 29-day month or the 7th day of a 31-day month, and they signalled the arrival of the first quarter moon.
The ides fell on the 13th or 15th day of the month, and these days honoured the god Jupiter.
The Roman Days of the Week
According to Almanac.com, the Roman days of the week were attributed as follows:
- Sunday was dies Solis for the Roman sun god Sol.
- Monday was dies Lunae for the Roman moon goddess Luna.
- Tuesday was dies Martis for the Roman god of war, Mars.
- Wednesday was dies Mercurii for the Roman god of commerce and messenger of the gods Mercury.
- Thursday was dies Jovis for the primary Roman god Jupiter, who was also known as Jove.
- Friday was dies Veneris for the Roman goddess of love, Venus.
- Saturday was dies Saturni for the Roman god of feasting and pleasure, Saturn.
One naming policy does not fit all. For example, the French term for Saturday is samedi, and this comes from the Latin for sabbath. Sunday or dimanche is derived from the Latin for the Lord's day rather than a reference to Sol.
Each Roman day had 12 day hours and 12 night hours, regardless of the actual daylight hours. The Roman hour varied in length according to the season. At the time of the summer solstice, an hour was truly 1 hour and 16 minutes, and by the time of the winter solstice, it was just 44 minutes long. Only the spring and autumn equinoxes on or around the 21st of March and September had 60-minute-long hours.
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