The Roman Months
During the life of Gaius Marius Insubrecus, the traditional twelve months of the Roman year based on Caesar’s reform of the calendar were named
- Ianuarius,
- Februarius,
- Martius,
- Aprilis,
- Maius,
- Iunius,
- Quintilis,
- Sextilis,
- September,
- October,
- November,
- December
Quintilis, the birth month of Gaius Iulius Caesar, was renamed Iulius in his honor in 44 BCE, the year of his death. To honor Augustus, Sextilis was renamed Augustus in 8 BCE.
Those of you who are familiar with Latin, or the Romance languages, may have noticed an incongruity in the names of the Roman months. For example, why is the twelfth month of the year designated “10,” December.
The calendar of Romulus, Rome’s mythical founder, originally began 1 March and had only ten months.
Six of the months were named with respect to their position on the calendar: 5, quinque, Quintilis; 6, sex, Sextilis; 7, septem, Septilis; 8, octo, October; 9, novem, November; and 10, decem, December.
Martius seems to have been named after Mars, the god of war, since March was the beginning of the campaign season. Aprilis seems related to apricus, which indicates the month warm under the sun. Maius seems either derived from the goddess, Maia, goddess of growth, or from maiores, the ancestors.
Ovid presents three possible derivations for Iunius. The goddess, Iuno, claims that the month is named for her. Iuventas, the goddess of youth, claims the month for herself. Finally, Ovid claims that Iunius comes from the verb, iungere, “to join”, to mark the alliance between the Romans and the Sabines.
The months Ianuarius and Februarius were appended to the end of the Roman year in a calendar reform attributed to Numa Pompilius, the second of the seven traditional kings of Rome.
Ianuarius seems to have been named after the god, Ianus, the god of transitions, as the winter solstice signals the transition from winter to spring. Ancient sources derived Februarius from Februus, another name for the god, Lupercus, who has to do with expiation and ritual purification and whose festival is celebrated around the Ides of Februarius.
Designating the Days of the Month
Each Roman month had three reference dates,
- CALENDAE, the Calends, were the first day of the month.
- NONAE, the Nones, were eight days before the Ides.
- IDUS, the Ides, were the 15th day of the long months – Ianuarius, Martius, Maius, Iulius (Quintilis), Augustus (Sextilis), October, and December – and the 13th day of the others-Februarius, Aprilis, Iunius, September, and November.
Romans referenced the other days of the month “backwards” from these three reference days; they numbered them by the days preceding one of the reference days.
PRIDEI, basically the “day before,” was the designation for the days immediately preceding the Calendae, Nonae, or Idus. So, 14 March, the day before the Ides of March, would have been designated pridie idus Martis, abbreviated PRID ID MART.
The other days were denoted by an ordinal number, counting back from one of the named reference days.
The Romans counted a bit differently than we do … they had no designation for zero. So, the reference day itself counted as “1”, pridie as “2,” and the day before pridie as “3,” and so on. So, for Insubrecus, 13 March wasn’t the second day before the Ides of March, it was day 3 before the Ides. So, he would mark it in his planner as A D III ID MART, that is, ante diem III Idus Martis, “before day three of the ides of March.”
What can be a bit confusing to us moderns is that days that fall in a certain month by modern standards were branded to the next month by the Romans. So, for example, if Insubrecus had an appointment on 28 February, it would go into his calendar as PRID CAL MART, the day before the calends of March.
Still with me?
See you A D XVI CAL APR … St. Patrick’s day!
Chart of Roman Days of the Month Based on the Julian Calendar
