![]() ![]() March was also a time of many festivals, presumably in preparation for the campaigning season. This was the time of year to resume military campaigns interrupted by winter. FEBRUARYįrom the Latin word februa, “to cleanse.” The Roman calendar month of Februarius was named for Februalia, a festival of purification and atonement during this period. Janus is depicted with two faces, one looking into the past, the other into the future. In ancient Roman times, the gates of the temple of Janus were open in times of war and closed in times of peace. Named for the Roman god Janus, protector of gates and doorways. This meant that the calendar could be more easily corrected by leap years and that the dates of the equinoxes and solstices-and thus, the date of Easter-once again lined up with their observed dates. Mainly, the Julian calendar had overestimated the time it took the Earth to orbit the Sun, so the Gregorian calendar shortened the calendar year from 365.25 days to 365.2425 days. Quite a bit later, in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII introduced many reforms to the Julian calendar, as there were still some inaccuracies and adjustments to be made. Later emperors tried to name various months after themselves, but those changes did not outlive them! Today’s Gregorian Calendar Of course, all the renaming and reorganizing meant that some of the months’ names no longer agreed with their position in the calendar (September to December, for example). After Caesar’s death, the month Quintilis was renamed July in honor of Julius Caesar in 44 BC, and later, Sextilis was renamed August in honor of Roman Emperor Augustus in 8 BC. The winter months (January and February) remained a time of reflection, peace, new beginnings, and purification. It was a solar calendar, as we have today. January and February were moved to the front of the year, and leap years were introduced to keep the calendar year lined up with the solar year. When Julius Caesar became Pontifex Maximus, he reformed the Roman calendar so that the 12 months were based on Earth’s revolutions around the Sun. ![]() February’s name is believed to stem from Februa, an ancient festival dedicated to ritual springtime cleaning and washing. January was named after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and transitions. The rest of the months were numbered their original names in Latin meant the fifth (Quintilis), sixth (Sextilis), seventh ( September), eighth ( October), ninth ( November), and tenth ( December) month.Įventually, January (Januarius) and February (Februarius) were added to the end of the year, giving all 12 months proper names. April (Aprilis) is thought to stem from the Latin aperio, meaning “to open”-a reference to the opening buds of springtime. May (Maius) and June (Junius) were also named for goddesses Maia and Juno. March (Martius) was named for Mars, the god of war, because this was the month when active military campaigns resumed. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |