Some months of the calendar year were named by the ancient Romans. Roman calendar

History has not preserved us with accurate information about the time of the birth of the Roman calendar. However, it is known that during the time of Romulus (mid-8th century BC), the Romans used the lunar calendar, which was at odds with the actual astronomical cycle on Earth. The year began in March and consisted of only 10 months (containing 304 days). Initially, the months had no names and were designated by ordinal numbers.

In the VII century. BC e., i.e. during the time of the second legendary ancient Roman king - Numa Pompilius, the Roman calendar was reformed and two more months were added to the calendar year. The months of the Roman calendar had the following names:

The names of the months were adjectives-definitions for the word mensis - month, for example, mensis Martius, mensis December.

Julian calendar.

The chaotic nature of the Roman calendar created such great inconvenience that its urgent reform turned into an acute social problem. Such a reform was carried out over two thousand years ago, in 46 BC. e. It was initiated by a Roman statesman and the commander Julius Caesar. He entrusted the creation of a new calendar to a group of Alexandrian astronomers led by Sozigen.

The essence of the reform was that the calendar was based on the annual movement of the Sun between the stars. Average duration year was set at 365.25 days, which exactly corresponded to the length of the tropical year known at that time. But so that the beginning of the calendar year always falls on the same date, as well as at the same time of day, they decided to count 365 days in each year within three years, and 366 in the fourth. last year was named leap year.

Sozigen divided the year into 12 months, for which he retained their ancient names. The year began to begin on January 1. This coincided with the beginning of the Roman economic year and with the inauguration of the new consuls. At the same time, the duration of months was established, which exists at the present time.

After the death of Julius Caesar, the fifth month of Quintilis was named in his honor Iulius (July), and in 8 AD. Sextilis was named after the emperor Augustus, Augustus.

The account according to the new calendar, called the Julian, began on January 1, 45 BC. e. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII corrected the Julian calendar, according to which the year began 13 days earlier. He was accepted all over the world. In Russia, the "new style" was introduced in 1918. The Russian Orthodox Church still uses the Julian calendar.

Count of days in months. The Roman calendar did not know the ordinal count of days in a month. The account was kept by the number of days up to three definite points within each month: calend, non and id. The designation by the Romans of the numbers of the month was based on the allocation of three main days in it, initially associated with the change in the phases of the moon.

New moon day (1st day of the month) was called Kalendae (abbr. Kal.). Initially, the high priest announced its coming (from Lat. Calare - to convene; building: to announce the new moon). The whole system of calculating during the year was called Kalendarium (hence the calendar), the same was the name of the debt book, since interest was paid during the calendar.

Full moon day (The 13th or 15th day of the month) was called id (Idus, abbr. Id.). According to the etymology of the Roman scholar Varro - from the Etruscan iduare - to divide, i.e. the month was divided in half.

Day of the first quarter of the moon (5th or 7th day of the month) was called Nonae (abbr. Non.). From the ordinal nonus - the ninth, because it was the 9th day until the next milestone in the month.

In March, May, July, October, ids fell on the 15th, nons on the 7th, and in the rest of the months - ids on the 13th, and nons on the 5th.

Dates were designated by counting from these three main days of the month, including both this day and the day of the indicated date: ante diem tertium Kalendas Septembres - three days before the September calendars (i.e. August 30), ante diem quartum Idus Martias - for four days before the id of March (i.e. 12 March).

Leap year.The expression "leap year" is associated with the origin of the Julian calendar and a kind of counting of days used by the ancient Romans. During the calendar reform, February 24 was repeated twice, that is, after the sixth day before the March calendars, and was called ante diem bis sextum Kelendas Martium - on the repeated sixth day before the March calendars.

A year with an extra day was called bi (s) sextilis - with a repeated sixth day. In Latin the sixth number is called "sextus", and "once again the sixth" is called "bisextus". Therefore, the year containing an extra day in February was called "bisexilis". The Russians, having heard this word from the Byzantine Greeks, who pronounced “b” as “c”, turned it into “leap year”.

Days of the week. The seven-day week in Rome appeared in the 1st century. AD under the influence of the Ancient East. Christians have introduced a regular holiday every 6 working days. In 321, Emperor Constantine the Great legislated this form of the week.

The Romans named the days of the week according to the seven then known luminaries who bore the names of the gods. Latin names, having been modified, are still partly preserved in the names of the days of the week in many European languages.

In the Slavic names of the days of the week (through the Greek Orthodox Church), the designation was adopted by their numbers. In Romance languages, the tradition of naming the days of the week by the names of the pagan gods (despite the stubborn struggle christian church) has survived to this day. In the Germanic languages, the names of the Roman deities were replaced by the corresponding Germanic ones. The Roman god of war Mars in Germanic mythology corresponds to Tiu, the god of trade Mercury - Wodan, the supreme deity of the sky and thunderstorms to Jupiter - Donar (Thor), the goddess of love Venus - Freya. The name "Saturday" is a modified Hebrew word for sabbaton, meaning rest. The first Christians celebrated Sunday as "the day of the Lord", that is, the day of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Chronology. In the first centuries of its existence, the dating of events in Rome was carried out according to the names of the consuls, who were elected two for a year. Due to the thoroughness of the historical fixation of the names of the consuls and their constant use in historical writings and documents, we know the names of the consuls, starting with Brutus (509 BC) and ending with Basil (541 AD), i.e. ... for over 1000 years!

The year was designated by the names of two consuls of a given year, the names were put in the ablative, for example: Marco Crasso et Gnaeo Pompejo consulibus - to the consulate of Mark Crassus and Gnaeus Pompey (55 BC).

Since the era of Augustus (from 16 BC), along with dating by the consuls, the chronology from the supposed year of the founding of Rome (753 BC) comes into use: ab Urbe condita - from the founding of the city, abbr ... ab U. c. An abbreviation was put before the year number, for example, 2009 in the Gregorian calendar corresponds to the year 2762 of the Roman era.

As We have already learned that the names of the Months are identical in the Julian and Gregorian calendars.

And also learned that Julius reformed the Old Roman calendar, radically than Pope Gregory.

January

January got its name in honor of the two-faced Roman god of time, doors and gates Janus (Ianuarius). The name of the month symbolically means “door to the year” (Latin word “door” - ianua). Traditionally, the original Roman calendar consisted of 10 months of just 304 days without winter, which was considered the time of "no month."

that's how they make you study Roman mythology. Well, you have to read it.

Around 713 BC, Romulus's semi-mythical successor, King Numa Pompilius, is said to have added the months January and February to make the calendar equal to the standard lunar year (365 days). Although originally the first month of the year in the old Roman calendar was March, Numa placed January first, although according to some Roman writers, January was the first month of the year only under the decemvirs around 450 BC. e. (original sources are conflicting). Be that as it may, we know the names of the two consuls who took office on May 1 and March 15 before 153 BC, after which they took office on January 1.

February

Etruscan god of the underworld Februus

February - februarius mensis - the ancient Romans called the calendar month, introduced, according to legend, by Numa Pompilius or Tarquinius the Proud. The oldest (Romulov) calendar, according to which the year was divided into 10 months and consisted of 304 days, did not include this month, as well as January. The reform of the calendar that followed under Numa (or Tarquinia) was intended to establish a solar-lunar year (perhaps a solar-lunar cycle); for which two new months were introduced, January and February, and the month February, which ended the year, included 28 days (the only ancient month with an even number of days; the remaining months had an odd number of days, since an odd number, according to the belief of the ancient Romans , brought happiness). It is reliably known that at the latest from 153 BC. e. the beginning of the year was pushed back to January 1, and February ranked second in the order of the Roman months.

I think we should not forget which calendar is Solar or Lunar, or maybe Solar-Lunar?

The name of the month February comes from the Etruscan god of the underworld Februus, and is associated with the rites of purification (februa, februare, februum), which fell on the feast of Lupercalia (February 15 - dies februatus), falling on the full moon according to the old Roman lunar calendar. When the establishment of the solar-lunar cycle required the introduction of intercalary months, the latter were inserted between February 23 and 24 (with a 4-year cycle, in the second and fourth years). Under Julius Caesar, who introduced a four-year cycle, consisting of three years of 365 and one year of 366 days, February of the latter contained 29 days, and February 23 was considered the seventh day of the pre-Marty calendars (ad VII Kal. Mart.), February 24 - the sixth previous, and February 25 - the sixth subsequent day of the pre-Marty calendars (ad VI Kal. Mart, posteriorem and priorem). Since these sixth days of the pre-Marty calendars were two, the year in which February contained 29 days was called annus bissextus (hence année bissextile, our leap year).

March

The month got its name in honor of the Roman god of war and the protection of Mars. In ancient Rome, where the climate was relatively mild, March was the first month of spring, the logical point for the beginning of the agricultural year, and was considered an auspicious time to start a seasonal military campaign.

The name "March" came into Russian from Byzantium. IN ancient Russia until 1492 March was considered the first month; when the year began to be counted from September, until 1699 it was the seventh; and from 1700 - the third. The Russian flight began in March ("spring", a word that has now come out of book use). In Czech, the first day of March is called letnice, and in some Russian dialects it is a beginner. In the past, on March 1, Russian peasants ended their winter hiring and spring hires began.

April

The name of April probably comes, as the ancients already recognized, from the Latin verb aperire - “to open”, because this month in Italy, spring was opening, the beginning of spring, trees and flowers were blooming. This etymology is supported by comparisons with modern Greek use of the word ἁνοιξις (anoixis) - "opening" for spring. According to another version, the name of the month is derived from the Latin word apricus - “warmed by the sun”.
Since some of the Roman months were named after deities, April was also dedicated to the goddess Venus, (Festum Veneris). Since the festival of Fortunae Virilis is held on the first day of the month, it has been suggested that the very name of the month Aprilis comes from Aphrilis, which is a reference to the Greek goddess Aphrodite (also Aphros), associated by the Romans with Venus, or from the Etruscan version of the name of this goddess Apru ( Apru). Jacob Grimm assumed the existence of a hypothetical god or hero, Aper or Aprus.
April now has 30 days, but before the reform of Julius Caesar it had only 29. At this time, the longest season dedicated to the gods (19 days) opened, during which all judicial institutions did not work in Ancient Rome. In April 65, after the disclosure of the Piso conspiracy against the personality of the emperor Nero, the frightened Roman Senate announced the renaming of the month of April to "Nero", this name was not used after the death of Nero in 68.

The month of May was named after the Greek goddess Maya, who was identified with the Roman goddess of fertility, Bona Dea (Good Goddess), whose feast day fell on this time. On the other hand, the Roman poet Ovid asserted that the month of May was named after maiores, or “elders,” and that the next month (June) was named after iuniores, or “young men” (Fasti VI.88).

June

The Roman poet Ovid in his book "Fasti" offers two variants of the etymology of the name of the month. The first version (by far the most recognized) derives the naming of June (mensis Junonis) from the Roman goddess Juno, the wife of Jupiter, combined with the ancient Greek goddess Hero. Juno patronized marriage and family life, so it was considered lucky to get married this month. The second version of Ovid assumes the creation of the name June from the Latin word iuniores, which means "young people", in contrast to maiores ("elders"), after whom the previous month May is supposedly named (Fasti VI.1-88). It is also believed that June received the name of Lucius Junius Brutus, the first Roman consul.

July

Originally the month was called Quintilis (Latin quintus - "five"). Subsequently, it was renamed 45 BC. e. at the suggestion of Octavian Augustus in honor of his predecessor - the Roman emperor Julius Caesar, who was born this month

August

Initially, the month was called "sextilis" (from Latin Sextilis - the sixth) and contained 29 days. Julius Caesar, reforming the Roman calendar, added two more days in 45 BC. BC, giving it a modern look, 31 days long.
August got its real name in honor of the Roman emperor Octavian Augustus, whose name, in 8 BC. e. the Roman Senate named the month especially happy in the life of the emperor. According to Senatus consultum, quoted by Macrobius, Octavian chose this month for himself, because it accounted for several of his great victories, including the conquest of Egypt. A similar honor was given even earlier by the Senate to Julius Caesar, by whose name the month of "quintiles" (from Latin Quintilis - fifth) was renamed to "July" (Latin Julius).
According to a widespread legend (introduced into everyday life by the scholar of the 13th century Sacrobosco), originally "sextile" supposedly consisted of 30 days, but Octavian Augustus increased it to 31 days so that it would not be shorter than the month named after Julius Caesar, and in February took one day, which is why he has only 28 days in ordinary years .. However, there is a lot of evidence that refutes this theory. In particular, it is inconsistent with the length of the seasons given by Varro, who wrote in 37 BC. BC, before the alleged reform of Octavian, a 31-day sextile is recorded in Egyptian papyrus from 24 BC. The 28-day February is shown in the Fasti Caeretani calendar, which dates back to 12 BC. e.

September

Received the name from lat. septem - seven, since it was the seventh month of the old Roman year, which began in March before Caesar's reform.

October

Received the name from lat. octo is eight.

November

Received the name from lat. novem is nine.

December

Received the name from lat. decem - ten. After the shift in the beginning of the year, January became the twelfth and final month of the year.

Well, now we know why we have 12 Months and why they are called that.

To be continued.......

Let's talk about the reforms of the calendar system in Russia, the Russian Empire, etc.

Roman calendar and major holidays

The most ancient Roman calendar was agrarian, that is, it was based on the timing of agricultural work. It counted ten unequal months: in some there were not even twenty days, in some - thirty-five, or even more. The ancient Roman calendar began in March, when the farmers began to work. The twelve-month lunar calendar was introduced by the legendary Roman king Numa Pompilius, who added two new months: January and February. Scholars disagree when the beginning of the year was postponed from March 1 to January 1: under Numa or already under Julius Caesar.

Some months of the Roman year were directly dedicated to one or another god. So, January is the month of Janus, March is Mars, May is the goddess of the fertile earth Maya, June is Juno, the wife of Jupiter. The rest of the months were simply called the fifth, sixth and so on until the tenth. True, when the beginning of the year was postponed from March to January, everything shifted and March turned into the third month of the year, which means that the fifth month became the seventh, the sixth - the eighth, and so on. We use the Roman names of these months to this day: the ninth month of the year, September, we call the seventh (from the Latin septem - seven), the tenth, October - the eighth (octo - eight), the eleventh and twelfth - the ninth and tenth, respectively (novem and decem - nine and ten). The word "February" comes from the Latin februare, which means "to cleanse", since February was considered the month of religious cleansing, and "April" is from aperire, "to open", since it was in April that the first shoots of plants appeared.

Where did the names "July" and "August" come from? In ancient times, they were called simply "the fifth" and "sixth", but received new names in honor of Julius Caesar and his successor Octavian Augustus. Emperor Domitian also tried to give his names to the months, calling September "Germanicus" and October "Domitian", but after his death the former names returned to them.

The Romans determined the numbers of the month by counting them from the three main days originally associated with the lunar calendar: these are calendars, nones and idas. Kalends are the first day of the month, which falls on the new moon, nons is the day of the first quarter of the moon, and the ida is the middle of the month, the full moon. In March, May, July and October, the ids fell on the 15th, the nons on the 7th, and in the rest of the months, the ids on the 13th, and the nons on the 5th.

From the kalends, non and id, the days were counted back, for example, they said: "It was on the fifth day before the June kalends." The Calendars belonged to Janus, the god of all undertakings, and the Ides were considered a day dedicated to Jupiter - in the middle of each month, the priest of Jupiter sacrificed a sheep. In the cultural European context, the Ides of March gained particular fame, becoming a household term, since on this day in 44 BC. e. Julius Caesar was killed.

In a year, the Romans celebrated more than fifty holidays in honor of various deities. We will tell you more about some of the most interesting and important ones.

In later times, on the January calendars, on the first day, the Romans celebrated the New Year's holiday. On this day, incense and wine were sacrificed to Janus, the god of the beginning and the end; it was customary to wish each other good endeavors and give money, since the two-faced Janus himself was depicted on the copper asses. The January holiday of Agonalia, which fell on the 9th, when cleansing sacrifices were brought to God, was also dedicated to Janus.

Preparations for the holiday. Artist L. Alma-Tadema

On 15 February, Lupercalia was celebrated dedicated to Faun, the patron saint of the herds. The ceremony was conducted by the priests of one of the most ancient colleges - the Luperca, who gathered in the Lupercal cave at the foot of the Palatine Hill, in the most ancient sanctuary of Rome, where, according to legend, the she-wolf fed the twins Romulus and Remus. There, the luperki sacrificed a goat or a goat, one of the most fertile animals, and then they had a feast. At the feast, two young men from noble families were brought to the place of slaughter of animals, and there one priest touched their foreheads with a bloody sacrificial knife, and the second immediately washed the blood with a woolen cloth soaked in milk.

Pan. Artist M. Vrubel

Then the loppers cut the belts from goat skins and, armed with these belts, in some loincloths they ran around the Palatine Hill, and then along the Sacred Road, the main street of Rome, to the base of the Capitol and back. All the lovers they met were beaten with belts, and childless women were deliberately put under the blows of loppers, as it was believed that this would help them to get pregnant.

There are different opinions about the origins and meaning of this holiday. Even in antiquity, several legends were known about the origin of Lupercalia. According to one of them, Romulus and Remus, after defeating Amulius, rushed with glee to the place where they were nursed by the she-wolf. The essence of the holiday is an imitation of this run, a bloody knife is applied to the foreheads of two young men as a reminder of the dangers and murders that surrounded the twins, and cleansing with milk is a symbol of the food that Romulus and Remus were fed with.

Ancient authors considered Lupercalia to be a purification ceremony, since the whole of February, the last month of the ancient calendar, was considered a month of purification rites. It is also possible that the purpose of the Luperk rituals is to increase fertility. There is also an opinion that Lupercalia is nothing more than a holiday of the first pasture of herds to the meadows, and the rituals of the Luperk symbolize the protection of livestock from wolves, since the forest god Faun was considered the patron saint of herds and shepherds, and "luperk" is translated as "persecutor of wolves."

In February, the Parentals were also held, parental days, calculated from the 13th to the 21st day of the month. These were the days of commemoration of the dead, when flowers, mainly violets, fruits, salt and bread, were left at the graves of relatives or on the roads. It was believed that this holiday was introduced into everyday life by the pious Aeneas, who annually began to make sacrifices to his father Anchises. On memorial days, the temples of all the gods were closed, marriages were prohibited, and Roman officials removed the signs of their power. It was believed that at this time the souls of the dead travel the earth and eat the offerings left by them. The Parentalia ended with a great festival, Feralia, when sacrifices were made to the Manas on the Palatine Hill.

On February 27 and March 14, the celebration of Equiria, dedicated to Mars, was celebrated, presumably founded by his son Romulus, when equestrian competitions were held on the Champ de Mars and ritual cleansing of horses. The holidays preceded the month of the god of war and symbolized the beginning of the time of military campaigns. The "war season" was closed by the October Ides, the holiday of the October horse with the offering of sacrificial animals to Mars. In March and October, the Sali processions took place, marking the beginning and end of the time of hostilities.

On the March calendars, the Romans celebrated the Matronalia, arranged in honor of the goddess Juno. Only married women - free residents of Rome took part in it. According to legend, this holiday was also established by Romulus as a sign of respect to the Roman wives who stopped the battle with the Sabines. On the same day, on the Esquiline Hill, the temple of Juno Lucina, the patroness of childbirth, to whom women pray in Matronalia, asking for a painless birth, was laid. And on this day, households present gifts to Roman mothers and wives.

Preparations in the Colosseum (detail). Artist L. Alma-Tadema

From 19 to 23 March, the Quinquatria were held in honor of Minerva. On the second day of the festivities, gladiator fights were organized as a reflection of the warlike nature of this goddess, while the rest of the time, the Quinquatria were celebrated by those whose occupations Minerva patronized: students and teachers, knitters and spinners, various artisans and artists, doctors and poets. In June, small three-day Quinquatria took place, arranged by flutists.

Spring. Artist L. Alma-Tadema

In honor of Ceres, the goddess of fertility and agriculture, the feast of Cerealia arose, falling on the days from 12 to 20 April. Basically, Ceres was honored by the plebeians, since the cult of the goddess was most widespread among the common people, especially in the countryside. Even in Rome, the Temple of Ceres was located at the foot of the Aventine Hill, in an area dominated by plebeians. Pigs were sacrificed to Ceres, but on these days people put on white clothes, collected holiday treats and sent flowers to each other.

In May, Lemurias were held to appease the restless souls of the dead, and Floralia, celebrations in honor of Flora, the goddess of flowering.

From June 7 to June 15, Vestals were organized in honor of Vesta, the guardian of the hearth, and at the height of summer, on July 23, Neptunals were celebrated, dedicated to the god of all streams, Neptune, asking him to prevent drought. Little is known about the celebration of Neptunals: huts were built from branches, in which, presumably, they celebrated the triumph, indulging in abundant libations. During the empire at the same time, there were games in honor of Neptune.

Autumn in Rome was a time of public games dedicated to Jupiter - Roman in September and Plebeian in November, while in December the Romans celebrated the feast of Saturnalia magnificently.

Saturnalia took place from December 17 to 23 and marked the end of all agricultural work. The name of the holiday is due to the fact that the Romans attributed the invention of agriculture to Saturn. Saturnalia had the character of a national festival: at this time all state affairs were suspended, it was impossible to declare war, the courts were closed, classes in schools were stopped and it was forbidden to punish criminals.

The festivities began with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn, followed by a feast for the senators and horsemen. In Roman families, a pig was slaughtered in honor of Saturn and presented with gifts, among which were wax candles and figurines baked from dough. The first are in honor of the fact that the end of Saturnalia falls on the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, after which the sunny day begins to arrive; the latter symbolically substituted for human sacrifices, apparently, to Saturn in ancient times.

Harvest Festival. Artist L. Alma-Tadema

During the Saturnalia days, the streets of Rome were crowded with people who greeted each other with the traditional shouts of "Io, Saturnalia!" Throughout the festival, feasts, festivities, various games continued, so that the holiday enjoyed great love among the Roman people. For the time of Saturnalia, slaves were equal in rights with free people - perhaps in memory of the universal equality that reigned on earth in the Golden Age of Saturn. This is perhaps the most famous feature of Saturnalia: slaves received the right to sit at the same table with their masters, freely dispose of themselves and even scold the masters and give them orders.

This routine of festivals and ceremonies, repeated from year to year, was an integral part of the life of Roman society.