Roman Calendar
Contents
The Craziness Before 45 BC
Nundial Cycle Numbering the Days Fasti |
The Craziness Before 45 BC
- Before 45 BC (introduction of Julian calendar), the Roman calendar was a mess (created by Romulus)
- originally, year started March 1, consisted of only 304 days or 10 months: Martius (31 days), Aprilis (30 days), Maius (31 days), Iunius or Junius (30 days), Quintilis (31 days), Sextilis (30 days), September (30 days), October (31 days), November 30 days), December (30 days)
- 304 days followed by unnamed/unnumbered winter period
- Roman king Numa Popilius introduced February and January between December and March
- The year was increased to 354 or 355 days
- Intercalaris or Mercedonius (extra month, 22 or 23 days, disputed) was introduced in some years to make up for a lack of days in a year
- In an 8-year period, the length of years were:
1 |
12 months or 355 days |
2 |
13 months or 377 days |
3 |
12 months or 355 days |
4 |
13 months or 378 days |
5 |
12 months or 355 days |
6 |
13 months or 377 days |
7 |
12 months or 355 days |
8 |
13 months or 378 days |
- There was a total of 2830 days and 366.25 days per year on average
- It was discovered to be too long and 7 days were later dropped from the 8th year; yielded 365.375 days per year
- Reform: 46 BC had 15 months/445 days, aka “the last year of confusion”
|
47 BC |
46 BC |
Januarius |
29 |
29 |
Februarius |
28 |
24 |
Intercalaris |
|
27 |
Martius |
31 |
31 |
Aprilis |
29 |
29 |
Maius |
31 |
31 |
Junius |
29 |
29 |
Quintilis |
31 |
31 |
Sextilis |
29 |
29 |
September |
29 |
29 |
October |
31 |
31 |
November |
29 |
29 |
*Undecember |
33 |
|
*Duodecember |
34 |
|
December |
29 |
29 |
Total |
355 |
445 |
- The two extra months had possible names of Undecember and Duodecember
- From 45 BC onward, the length of the months were the same as today
Nundial Cycle
- a “market week” of 8 days was marked A through H in the calendar
- Market was held on the eighth day and was called the nundinum which is related to novem, meaning “nine” because the Roman system of counting was inclusive (when counting from Sunday, Sunday = day 1, Monday = day 2, …, Next Sunday = day 8)
- The letter for the market day changed every year due to the year not being a multiple of eight
- In 287 BC, a law passed (the Lex Hortensia) that forbade holding meetings of comitia (legal assembly of people) on nundinum
- For the market day to fall on the start of the year was considered unlucky
- After the 7-day week was introduced by the Julian calendar, the nundinal cycle was used until Constantine officially adopted the 7-day week in AD 321
Numbering the Days
- 3 fixed points
- Kalendae or Calendae: first day of the month
- Idus: 13th day of January, February, April, June, August, September, November, December, or 15th day of March, May, July, October
- Nonae: 9th day before Idus (counting Idus as the 1st day)
- Days between Kalendae and Nonae were called “the 5th day before Nonae”, “the 4th day before Nonae”, “the 3rd day before Nonae”, and “the day before Nonae”
- no “2nd day before Nonae”
- because of inclusive way of counting used by Romans: Nonae itself was the first day, and thus “the 2nd day before” and “the day before” would mean the same thing
- similar for days between None and Idus, days after Idus called “Xth day before Kalendae”
- Leap years (the doubling of 6th day before Kalendae is the origin of the word bissextile)
Roman date |
Modern date |
7th day before Kalendae of March |
23-Feb |
6th day before Kalendae of March |
24-Feb (Leap day) |
6th day before Kalendae of March |
25-Feb (leap day in some
countries) |
5th day before Kalendae of March |
26-Feb |
4th day before Kalendae of March |
27-Feb |
3th day before Kalendae of March |
28-Feb |
The day before Kalendae of March |
29-Feb |
Kalendae of March |
1-Mar |
Fasti
- chronological or calendar-based lists, or other diachronic records or plans of official and religiously sanctioned events
- Each day of the Roman calendar was marked on the fasti with a letter that designated its religious and legal character
- F (fastus), days when it was legal to initiate action in the courts of civil law (dies fasti)
- C (comitialis), a day on which the Roman people could hold assemblies (dies comitalis)
- N (nefastus), when these political activities and the administration of justice were prohibited (dies nefasti)
- NP of elusive meaning, but marking feriae, public holidays (thought by some to mean nefastus priore, "unlawful before noon", along with FP, fastus priore, "lawful before noon")
- QRCF (perhaps for quando rex comitiavit fas, "Permissible, when the king has entered the comitium"), a day when it was religiously permissible for the rex (probably the priest known as the rex sacrorum) to call for an assembly
- EN (endotercissus, an archaic form of intercissus, "cut in half"), for days that were nefasti in the morning, when sacrifices were being prepared, as well as in the evening, while sacrifices were being offered, but were fasti in the middle of the day