Roman calendar and main holidays. Calendar twists and turns or why December is the twelfth and not the tenth month

Ancient Roman calendar. History has not preserved for us exact information about the time of the birth of the Roman calendar. However, it is known that during the time of Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome and the first Roman king, i.e. around the middle of the 8th century. BC e., the Romans used a calendar in which the year, according to Censorinus, consisted of only 10 months and contained 304 days. Initially, the months did not have names and were designated by serial numbers. The year began on the first day of the month in which the beginning of spring occurred.

Around the end of the 8th century. BC e. some months got their own names. Thus, the first month of the year was named Martius in honor of the god of war, Mars. The second month of the year was named Aprilis. This word comes from the Latin "aperire", which means "to open", as this is the month when the buds on the trees open. The third month was dedicated to the goddess Maya - the mother of the god Hermes (Mercury) - and was called Majus, and the fourth in honor of the goddess Juno (Fig. 8), wife Jupiter was named Junius. This is how the names of the months of March, April, May and June appeared. Subsequent months continued to retain their numerical designations:

Quintilis - “fifth”
Sextilis - “sixth”
September (September) - “seventh”
Oktober - “eighth”
November (November) - “ninth”
December - “tenth”

Martius, Maius, Quintilis and October each had 31 days, and the remaining months consisted of 30 days. Therefore, the most ancient Roman calendar can be presented in the form of a table. 1, and one of its samples is shown in Fig. 9.

Create a 12 month calendar. In the 7th century BC e., that is, during the time of the second legendary ancient Roman king - Numa Pompilius, a reform of the Roman calendar was carried out and two more months were added to the calendar year: the eleventh and twelfth. The first of them was named January (Januarius) - in honor of the two-faced god Janus (Fig. 10), whose one face was turned forward and the other backward: he could simultaneously contemplate the past and foresee the future. The name of the second new month, February, comes from the Latin word "februarius", which means "purification" and is associated with the purification ritual celebrated annually on February 15th. This month was dedicated to the god of the underworld Februus.

The history of the distribution of days according to months. Initially, the year of the Roman calendar, as already mentioned, consisted of 304 days. To make it equal to the Greek calendar year, one would have to add 50 days to it, and then there would be 354 days in the year. But the superstitious Romans believed that odd numbers happier than even ones, and therefore added 51 days. However, from such a number of days it was impossible to make 2 full months. Therefore, from six months, which previously consisted of 30 days, i.e., from April, June, Sextilis, September, November and December, one day was taken away. Then the number of days from which new months were formed increased to 57. From this number of days, the months January, which contained 29 days, and February, which received 28 days, were formed.

Thus, a year containing 355 days was divided into 12 months with the number of days indicated in the table. 2.

Here, February only had 28 days. This month was doubly “unlucky”: it was shorter than others and contained an even number of days. This is what the Roman calendar looked like several centuries BC. e. The established length of the year of 355 days almost coincided with the duration of the lunar year, which consisted of 12 lunar months but 29.53 days, since 29.53 × 12 == 354.4 days.

This coincidence is not accidental. It is explained by the fact that the Romans used a lunar calendar and the beginning of each month was determined by the first appearance of the crescent moon after the new moon. The priests ordered the heralds to publicly “cry out” for everyone to know the beginning of each new month, as well as the beginning of the year.

The chaos of the Roman calendar. The Roman calendar year is shorter than the tropical year by more than 10 days. Because of this, calendar numbers corresponded less and less to natural phenomena every year. To eliminate this irregularity, every two years between February 23 and 24, an additional month was inserted, the so-called Mercedonium, which alternately contained 22 and 23 days. Therefore, the years alternated in length as follows:

355 days

377 (355+22) days

355 days

378 (355+23) days.

Thus, each four-year period consisted of two simple years and two extended ones. The average length of the year in such a four-year period was 366.25 days, that is, it was a whole day longer than in reality. To eliminate the discrepancy between calendar numbers and natural phenomena, it was necessary from time to time to resort to increasing or decreasing the duration of additional months.

The right to change the length of additional months belonged to the priests (pontiffs), headed by the high priest (Pontifex Maximus). They often abused their power by arbitrarily lengthening or shortening the year. According to Cicero, the priests, using the power granted to them, extended the terms of public positions for their friends or for persons who bribed them, and shortened the terms for their enemies. The time for paying various taxes and fulfilling other obligations also depended on the arbitrariness of the priest. In addition to all this, confusion began in the celebrations. So, The harvest festival sometimes had to be celebrated not in summer, but in winter.

We find a very apt description of the state of the Roman calendar of that time from the outstanding French writer and educator of the 18th century. Voltaire, who wrote: “Roman generals always won, but they never knew on what day it happened.”

Julius Caesar and the calendar reform. 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 the Roman statesman and commander Julius Caesar. By this time, he had visited Egypt, the center of ancient science and culture, and became acquainted with the peculiarities of the Egyptian calendar. It was this calendar, with the amendment of the Canopic Decree, that Julius Caesar decided to introduce in Rome. He entrusted the creation of a new calendar to a group of Alexandrian astronomers led by Sosigenes.

Julian calendar of Sosigenes. The essence of the reform was that the calendar was based on the annual movement of the Sun between the stars. The average length of the 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 up to 365 days in each year for three years, and 366 in the fourth. This lastthe year was called a leap year. True, Sosigenes must have known that the Greek astronomer Hipparchus, approximately 75 years before the reform planned by Julius Caesar, established that the length of the tropical year was not 365.25 days, but somewhat less, but he probably considered this difference insignificant and therefore neglected them.

Sosigenes divided the year into 12 months, for which he retained their ancient names: January, February, March, April, May, June, Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November and December. The month of Mercedonia was excluded from the calendar. January was accepted as the first month of the year, since already from 153 BC. e. the newly elected Roman consuls took office on January 1. The number of days in months was also ordered (Table 3).

Consequently, all odd-numbered months (January, March, May, Quintilis, September and November) had 31 days, and even-numbered months (February, April, June, Sextilis, October and December) had 30 days. Only February of a simple year contained 29 days.

Before implementing the reform, trying to ensure that all holidays coincide with their corresponding seasons, the Romans added to the calendar year, in addition to Mercedonia, which consisted of 23 days, two more intercalary months - one of 33 days, and the other of 34. Both of these months were placed between November and December. Thus a year of 445 days was formed, known in history as the disorderly or “year of confusion.” This was the year 46 BC. e.

In gratitude to Julius Caesar for streamlining the calendar and his military services, the Senate, at the suggestion of the Roman politician Mark Antony, in 44 BC. e. renamed the month Quintilis (fifth), in which Caesar was born, to July (Julius)

Roman Emperor Augustus (63 BC-14 AD)

Counting according to the new calendar, called the Julian calendar, began on January 1, 45 BC. e. Just on this day there was the first new moon after the winter solstice. This is the only moment in the Julian calendar that has a connection with the lunar phases.

Augustan calendar reform. The members of the highest priestly college in Rome - the pontiffs - were instructed to monitor the correctness of time calculation, however, not understanding the essence of Sosigenes' reform, for some reason they inserted leap days not after three years on the fourth, but after two years on the third. Due to this error, the calendar account was again confused.

The error was discovered only in 8 BC. e. during the time of Caesar's successor, Emperor Augustus, who made a new reform and eliminated the accumulated error. By his order, starting from 8 BC. e. and ending with 8 AD. e., skipped inserting extra days in leap years.

At the same time, the Senate decided to rename the month Sextilis (sixth) in August - in honor of Emperor Augustus, in gratitude for the correction of the Julian calendar and the great military victories he won in this month. But there were only 30 days in sextilis. The Senate considered it inconvenient to leave fewer days in the month dedicated to Augustus than in the month dedicated to Julius Caesar, especially since the number 30, being even, was considered unlucky. Then another day was taken away from February and added to sextilis - August. So February was left with 28 or 29 days. But now it turns out that three months in a row (July, August and September) have 31 days each. This again did not suit the superstitious Romans. Then they decided to move one day of September to October. At the same time, one day in November was moved to December. These innovations completely destroyed the regular alternation of long and short months created by Sosigenes.

This is how the Julian calendar gradually improved (Table 4), which remained the only one and unchanged in almost all of Europe until the end of the 16th century, and in some countries even until the beginning of the 20th century.

Historians indicate that the emperors Tiberius, Nero and Commodus tried three subsequent months to call by their proper names, but their attempts failed.

Counting days in months. The Roman calendar did not know the ordinal counting of days in a month. The counting was carried out by the number of days up to three specific moments within each month: Kalends, Nons and Ides, as shown in the table. 5.

Only the first days of the month were called kalends and fell at a time close to the new moon.

The nones were the 5th of the month (in January, February, April, June, August, September, November and December) or the 7th of the month (in March, May, July and October). They coincided with the beginning of the first quarter of the Moon.

Finally, the ids were the 13th of the month (in those months in which nones fell on the 5th) or the 15th (in those months in which nones fell on the 7th).

Unlike the usual forward counting, the Romans counted days from Kalends, Nons and Ides in the opposite direction. So, if it was necessary to say “January 1,” then they said “on the calendars of January”; May 9 was called “the 7th day from the Ides of May,” December 5 was called “on the December Nones,” and instead of “June 15,” they said “on the 17th day from the Kalends of July,” etc. It must be remembered, however, that the original date itself was always included in the count of days.

The examples considered show that when dating, the Romans never used the word “after,” but only “from.”

In each month of the Roman calendar there were three more days that had special names. These are the eves, that is, the days preceding the nones, ids, and also the calendars of the next month. Therefore, speaking about these days, they said: “on the eve of the Ides of January” (i.e., January 12), “on the eve of the Kalends of March” (i.e., February 28), etc.

Leap years and the origin of the word “leap year”. During the calendar reform of Augustus, errors made during the incorrect use of the Julian calendar were eliminated, and the basic rule of the leap year was legalized: every fourth year is a leap year. Therefore, leap years are those whose numbers are divisible by 4 without a remainder. Considering that thousands and hundreds are always divisible by 4, it is enough to establish whether the last two digits of the year are divisible by 4: for example, 1968 is a leap year, since 68 is divisible by 4 without remainder, and 1970 is simple, since 70 is not divisible by 4.

The expression “leap year” is associated with the origin of the Julian calendar and the peculiar counting of days used by the ancient Romans. When reforming the calendar, Julius Caesar did not dare to place an additional day in a leap year after February 28, but hid it where the mercedonium had previously been located, that is, between February 23 and 24. Therefore, February 24 was repeated twice.

But instead of “February 24,” the Romans said “the sixth day before the Kalends of March.” In Latin, the sixth number is called “sextus”, and “sixth again” is called “bissextus”. Therefore, a year containing an extra day in February was called “bisextilis.” The Russians, having heard this word from the Byzantine Greeks, who pronounced “b” as “v”, turned it into “visokos”. Therefore, it is impossible to write “vysokosny”, as is sometimes done, since the word “vysokos” is not Russian and has nothing to do with the word “high”.

Accuracy of the Julian calendar. The length of the Julian year was set at 365 days and 6 hours. But this value is 11 minutes longer than the tropical year. 14 sec. Therefore, for every 128 years, a whole day was accumulated. Consequently, the Julian calendar was not very accurate. Another important advantage was its significant simplicity.

Chronology. In the first centuries of its existence, dating of events in Rome was carried out by the names of the consuls. In the 1st century n. e. The era “from the creation of the city” began to spread, which was important in the chronology of Roman history.

According to the Roman writer and scientist Marcus Terence Varro (116-27 BC), the estimated date of the founding of Rome corresponds to the third year of the 6th Olympiad (Ol. 6.3). Since the founding day of Rome was celebrated annually as a spring holiday, it was possible to establish that the era of the Roman calendar, that is, its starting point, is April 21, 753 BC. e. The era “from the founding of Rome” was used by many Western European historians until the end of the 17th century.

Once again, wandering around different sites and looking at different notes, I was puzzled: why was the name of the month “December”, which comes from the Latin “deca” - “ten”, assigned to the twelfth month of the year? Well, why all of a sudden? And quite quickly an entry was found that put everything in its place, and also illuminated some other interesting facts about the calendar.
I will bring it here for myself.

Modern names of the months originate from the ancient Romans. Initially, the Roman year began in the spring and consisted of 10 months, which were designated by serial numbers. Later some months were renamed. So the first month was named March - in honor of the god of war, Mars. The third month, May, was dedicated to the goddess Maya, the fourth to the goddess Juno (as you might guess, June). The name of the second month (April) apparently comes from the Latin “aperire”, which means “to open”, since in this month the buds open.
The remaining 6 months continued to bear the names of numerals:

Quintilis (quintilis) – fifth,
Sextilis - sixth,
September (September) – seventh,
October (October) – eighth,
November (November) – ninth,
December (December) – tenth.

4 months of the year (March, May, Quintilis and October) each had 31 days. The remaining months consisted of 30 days. Those. The Roman calendar originally consisted of 304 days.
In the 7th century BC, the Romans made a reform and added an eleventh and twelfth month - January (in honor of the god Janus) and February, the name of which comes from the word februum, which means “purification”, and is associated with the rite of purification.
The following years, with the resulting calendar, there was complete confusion, the number of days in the year did not coincide with the true one, because of which natural phenomena (the equinox, for example) were shifted, and an additional month (Marcedonia) had to be inserted every two years. In addition, the high priest could, at his discretion, lengthen or shorten the additional month... In short, what was happening was terrible.

In 46 BC, Julius Caesar finally decided to reform the calendar. The year was taken to be equal to the length of the tropical year - 365 days and 6 hours. With 6 hours they acted in a well-known way - 3 years were taken as 365 days, and the fourth - 366.
The year began to begin in January, but the names remained the same as they were. The number of days was ordered as follows - all odd months had 31 days, and even months had 30 (with the exception of February, which had 30 only in a leap year, and the rest of the time - 29). That's what they decided, everything was nice and slender... But no, they got bored.
First, in gratitude to Caesar, they renamed Quintilis July. Well, okay, God bless him... But then they also decided to rename sextilis to Augustus (in honor of Emperor Augustus). And here there is a subtlety - in sextilis it was 30 days (versus 31 in July), and, so that August would not be offended, one more day was added to the month. Thus, the already miserable February lost another day. But the Romans did not stop there. After the above reforms, it turned out that 3 months in a row had 31 days each. The superstitious Romans considered this wrong (I don’t know why) and finally changed their calendar, bringing the number of days in months to the modern form.
Here's the story.
In conclusion, I’ll also tell you about the origin of the word “leap year”.
The Romans called the first days of each month calends. They counted the numbers of the month not forward, like us, but backwards, i.e. They counted how many days were left until the next calendar. Therefore, instead of the date February 24, the Romans said that there were 6 days left until the Kalends of March. And since at that time it was customary to place the extra day not at the end of February, but between February 23 and 24, then once every 4 years, February 24 was counted twice (i.e., the sixth day before the March calendar). In Latin, the sixth number was called “sectus”, and “the sixth again” was called “bissectus”. Therefore, a year containing one extra day was called “bissectiliss”. In Russian this word has changed a little...

Written based on materials from the book by S.I. Seleshnikov “The History of the Calendar and Its Upcoming Reform”

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: some had not even twenty days, some had thirty-five, or even more. The ancient Roman calendar began in March, when 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. Scientists disagree on when the beginning of the year was moved 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 - Mars, May - the goddess of the fertile earth Maya, June - Juno, the wife of Jupiter. The remaining months were simply called the fifth, sixth, and so on until the tenth. True, when the beginning of the year was moved 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: we call the ninth month of the year, September, 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 purification, and "April" comes 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 "fifth" and "sixth", but received new names in honor of Julius Caesar and his successor Octavian Augustus. Emperor Domitian also tried to give the months their own names, calling September “Germanic” and October “Domitian”, but after his death their previous names returned.

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

From Kalends, Nons and Ides, days were counted backwards, for example they said: “It was on the fifth day before the Kalends of June.” The Kalends belonged to Janus, the god of all beginnings, and the Ides was considered a day dedicated to Jupiter - in the middle of each month, a priest of Jupiter sacrificed a sheep. In the cultural European context, the Ides of March became especially famous, becoming a common noun, 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 in more detail about some of the most interesting and important ones.

In later times, on the first day of January, the Romans celebrated the New Year. 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 beginnings 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, was also dedicated to Janus, when purification sacrifices were made to the god.

Preparations for the holiday. Artist L. Alma-Tadema

On February 15, the festival of Lupercalia was celebrated dedicated to Faun, the patron saint of flocks. The ceremony was performed by priests of one of the most ancient colleges - the Luperci, 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 Luperci sacrificed a goat or male goat, one of the most prolific animals, and then held a feast. At the feast, two young men from noble families were brought to the place where the animals were slaughtered, and there one priest touched their foreheads with a bloody sacrificial knife, and the second immediately wiped off the blood with a woolen rag soaked in milk.

Pan. Artist M. Vrubel

Then the Luperci cut belts from goat skins and, armed with these belts, in only loincloths they ran around the Palatine Hill, and then along the Sacred Way, the main street of Rome, to the base of the Capitol and back. The Luperci beat everyone they met with belts, and childless women were specifically exposed to the blows of the Luperci, as it was believed that this would help them 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 where they were suckled by a she-wolf. The essence of the holiday is the imitation of this run, a bloody knife is applied to the foreheads of the 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.

Ancient authors considered Lupercalia to be a purification ceremony, since the entire month 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 Luperca rites was to increase fertility. There is also an opinion that Lupercalia is nothing more than the celebration of the first pasture of herds to the meadows, and the rituals of Luperk symbolize the protection of livestock from wolves, since the forest god Faun was considered the patron of herds and shepherds, and “Luperk” is translated as “persecutor of wolves.”

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

On February 27 and March 14, the festival of Equiria, dedicated to Mars, was celebrated, presumably founded by his son Romulus, when equestrian competitions were held on the Field of 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 “military season” closed with the Ides of October, the holiday of the October Horse with the offering of sacrificial animals to Mars. In March and October, sali processions also took place, marking the beginning and end of hostilities.

On the Kalends of March, the Romans celebrated Matronalia, held 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 for 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, was founded, to whom women pray in the Matronalia, asking for a painless birth. And on this day, household members present gifts to Roman mothers and wives.

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

From March 19 to 23, Quinquatria were held in honor of Minerva. On the second day of the festivities, gladiatorial fights were held as a reflection of the warlike nature of this goddess; the rest of the time, Quinquatria was 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 were held, organized by flutists.

Spring. Artist L. Alma-Tadema

In honor of Ceres, the goddess of fertility and agriculture, the holiday of Cerealia arose, falling on the days from April 12 to 20. Ceres was mainly celebrated by the plebeians, since the cult of the goddess became most widespread among the common people, especially in rural areas. Even in Rome, the Temple of Ceres was located at the foot of the Aventine Hill, in an area where mainly plebeians lived. Pigs were sacrificed to Ceres, and on these days people wore white clothes, collected holiday treats and sent flowers to each other.

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

From June 7 to 15, Vestalia was held in honor of Vesta, the keeper of the hearth, and at the height of summer, on July 23, Neptunalia was celebrated, dedicated to the god of all streams, Neptune, asking him to prevent drought. Little is known about the celebration of Neptunalia: huts were built from branches, in which, presumably, the celebration was celebrated, indulging in copious libations. During the empire, games were held at the same time in honor of Neptune.

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

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 nationwide festival: during this time all state affairs were suspended, war could not be declared, courts were closed, classes in schools were stopped and it was forbidden to punish criminals.

The celebration began with a sacrifice in the temple of Saturn, after which a feast was held for senators and horsemen. In Roman families, in honor of Saturn, they slaughtered a pig and gave gifts, including wax candles and figurines baked from dough. The first - in honor of the fact that the end of the Saturnalia falls on the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, after which the sunny day begins to arrive; the latter symbolically replaced human sacrifices, apparently due to Saturn in ancient times.

Harvest Festival. Artist L. Alma-Tadema

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

This routine of holidays and rituals, repeated year after year, formed an integral part of the life of Roman society.