Ancient Rome
How the months on our modern calendar got their names & more
What's this about?
In this article you will read about how many months got their names on our modern calendar. At first you're probably thinking "What on Earth does Ancient Roman have anything to do with the calendar or why is this important." well, that's what I'm going to answer. Learn about stuff ranging from How July got it's name to why February has only 28 days (When it doesn't have 29).
How did July Get it's name?
July wasn't always named "July". Before a Roman general/Dictator named, Julius Ceasar had changed the month Quintilis to July representing his first name Julius. As for why the month of July was called Quintilius is most likely due to the fact being that it was the 5th month on the calendar.
How did August get it's name?
August used to be called Sextilis due to it being the 6th month on the calendar. Julius' grand-nephew (adopted son) Augustus had Changed the month of Sextilis to August after his first name Augustus.
March is the first month of the year?!
This heading may seem like a joke or something, but it's actually true. Although March isn't the first month of the year now, it used too... See back before we had our modern calendar, the calendar was set to start in march and end in December. Before a man name Numa and his calendar and the Tropical calendar were a thing there was a different calendar called the Romulus Calendar which was named after the (possibly fake or real) founder and king of Rome Romulus.
Julius Caesar
A powerful dictator. Took advice from the well known Cleopatra (Egypt's Queen). He was stabbed due to making a mistake on March 15, 44 B.C. by not following the oracle's warning. After his death a civil war had broken out in the public.
Augustus Caesar
Augustus' birth name is Octavian. In order to prove Octavian's power if he hasn't already he made it clear by Changing it to Augustus meaning "honored one". How much power you may ask? Well, Augustus had the power to veto any law, rule all Roman provinces, and control over the army.
Why February has 28 days and why March was the first month of the year
Romulus had created a calendar because, people needed something to plan important events such as wars, meetings, etc. The Romulus calendar worked fairly well as long as you didn't have anything planned from January - February. Because, of this many people used that as an excuse for...
Continuation of explanation to why February has 28 days and march being the beginning of the month for Ancient Rome's earliest calendar.
...specific things. People became angered over this calendar so a man by the name of Numa (the second king of Rome) created a on calendar and insured to include the missing moths both January and February. Numa's calendar was very accurate it was only 10 days. Previously with the Romulus calendar consisted of 304 days (the whole year minus Jan. and Feb.). Since even numbers are considered bad luck in Rome Numa removed a day from the even number months (6 days). then he wanted to include the lunar calendar so he added 12 cycles of the moon to the calendar (56 days) however since it was an even number he made it +57 days and then split the left over days into 2 (the 2 months January and February). Even though February has 28 days, (an even number) the month is dedicated to Spiritual Purification day. Because things got crazy due to the Numa's calendar being 10 days off of a tropical year (365.242 days) Julius Caesar moved January and February to the beginning of the year and added the missing 10 days to random months to get 365 days, but a tropical year is 365.242 days he added a leap day every 4 years in February. So the calendar was pretty much perfect, well almost, Julius put the leap day in between the 23rd and 24th.
Closing
And that's who February got 28 days, why July was named July, why August was named August, and the story behind March being the first month of the year, etc... Hope you enjoyed and learned something new.
Resources
How the Month of July Got Its Name
"How the Month of July Got Its Name." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com blog, 1
July 2014. Web. 7 Apr. 2015. <http://blog.dictionary.com/july/>.
July 2014. Web. 7 Apr. 2015. <http://blog.dictionary.com/july/>.
Why Does February Only Have 28 Days?
It's Okay To Be Smart. Why Does February Only Have 28 Days? YouTube. Google, 23
Feb. 2015. Web. 2 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgKaHTh-_Gs>.
Feb. 2015. Web. 2 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgKaHTh-_Gs>.
Early Roman Calendar
"Early Roman Calendar." Calendars through the ages. WebExhibits, n.d. Web. 8
Apr. 2015. <http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-roman.html>.
Apr. 2015. <http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-roman.html>.
The Book of Time (The Secrets of Time, How It Works and How We Measure It)
Hart - Davis, Adam. The Book of Time (The Secrets of Time, How It Works and How
We Measure It). Buffalo: Firefly Books (U.S.) Inc., 2011. Print.
We Measure It). Buffalo: Firefly Books (U.S.) Inc., 2011. Print.
About TIME (A FIRST LOOK AT TIME AND CLOCKS)
Koscielniak, Bruce. About TIME (A FIRST LOOK AT TIME AND CLOCKS). New York City:
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data, 2004. Print.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data, 2004. Print.
Even though this source doesn't count I still think i should include it...
Banks, James A., Dr., et al. "Chapter 7; Lesson 3 'The Roman Empire.'" Our
World. New York City: MacMillan/McGraw-Hil, 2005. 234. Print.
World. New York City: MacMillan/McGraw-Hil, 2005. 234. Print.