Roman Calendar

 


The Roman calendar was the calendar system used in ancient Rome and throughout the Roman Empire until the adoption of the Julian calendar in 45 BCE. The Roman calendar was originally lunar-based, but it underwent several reforms throughout its history.



Here are some key features of the Roman calendar:

  1. Months: The Roman calendar had 12 months, with some variations in their lengths. The original names of the months were derived from agricultural and religious events.

    • March (Martius): Named after Mars, the Roman god of war.
    • April (Aprilis): The origin of the name is uncertain.
    • May (Maius): Named after Maia, a Roman goddess.
    • June (Junius): Named after Juno, the Roman goddess of marriage and childbirth.
    • Quintilis (later renamed Julius): Originally the fifth month, it was renamed in honor of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE.
    • Sextilis (later renamed Augustus): Originally the sixth month, it was renamed in honor of Augustus Caesar in 8 BCE.
    • September (September): Derived from the Latin word for "seven."
    • October (October): Derived from the Latin word for "eight."
    • November (November): Derived from the Latin word for "nine."
    • December (December): Derived from the Latin word for "ten."

  2. Days: The Roman calendar initially had 10 months of 30 or 31 days, totaling 304 days. The remaining winter period was not assigned to any month and was considered a vague intercalary period.

  3. Numa's Reforms: In the 8th century BCE, King Numa Pompilius introduced several reforms to the Roman calendar. He added two additional months, January (Ianuarius) and February (Februarius), which were placed at the beginning of the year. This brought the total number of months to 12.

  4. Leap Year: The Romans had a primitive form of leap year called an intercalary month. This month was inserted intermittently to keep the calendar in line with the solar year. However, the intercalation was often neglected or misapplied, causing significant confusion.

  5. Julian Calendar: In 45 BCE, Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar, which was a more accurate solar calendar. It was based on the length of the tropical year, approximately 365.25 days. The Julian calendar introduced a regular system of leap years and established the concept of a common year of 365 days.



The Julian calendar remained in use throughout the Roman Empire until the 16th century when it was further refined into the Gregorian calendar, which is the calendar system predominantly used today.

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