What was december in the old roman calendar

Nor did the college of pontiffs from pontifex or "bridge maker" , which was responsible for regulating the calendar and the festivals that depended upon it, always intercalate the additional days necessary to synchronize the lunar and solar year. Often, too, the calendar was manipulated more for partisan political consideration and vested interest than to adjust for the seasons. The tenure of an office holder could be extended or reduced, and legislation given more or less time before a vote.

Bibulus, Caesar's co-consul in 59 BC, for example, attempted to thwart the legislation of his more powerful colleague by declaring all the remaining days of the year to be holidays so the assembly could not legally meet Dio, Roman History , XXXVIII.

In BC, the new year was moved from the Ides of March to the Kalends of January January 1 so that newly elected consuls could assume office. The pontifex maximus had to be in Rome during February to declare whether there would be an intercalation that year. But Julius Caesar, who had been elected chief priest in 63 BC, was preoccupied in Gaul and then with civil war, and there had been only one intercalation since he had become proconsul.

In 50 BC, Cicero complains in a letter to Atticus on February 13 that he still did not know whether there would be an intercalation later that month V. When Caesar finally did return from Egypt in 46 BC and was declared dictator, a three-month discrepancy existed between the seasons and their calendar date. The harvest was being celebrated before the crops even had been taken in. As Suetonius complained, "Harvest festivals did not come in summer nor those of the vintage in the autumn" Life of Julius , XL.

That year, a reformed calendar based on the solar year was introduced by Caesar, who first had heard about it, relates Lucan Pharsalia , X. With the advice of the Alexandrian astronomer Sosigenes, the missing ninety days were intercalated, extending this ultimus annus confusionis "the last year of confusion" to days Macrobius, Saturnalia , I. To correct for the days that were lost in the old lunar calendar of the Republic, one or two additional days were added at the end of those months with 29 days.

This, then, was the new Julian calendar , which was introduced on January 1, 45 BC, on the first new moon after Bruma. Also, since intercalations were often determined so close to their announcement, the average Roman citizen often did not know the date, particularly if they were some distance from the capital. These problems became particularly acute in the years leading up to the Julian reform when there were only five intercalary years and there should have been eight.

Julius had spent the years B. When he returned to Rome, he called together a council of the best philosophers and mathematicians in order to solve the problem of the calendar. Ten days were added to the year to form a regular Julian year of days.

At the time Julius took office, the seasons and the calendar were three months out of alignment due to missing intercalations, so Julius added two extra months to the year 46 B. This was referred to as the "last year of confusion. The calendar looked like this:. Quintilis was renamed Iulius July in 44 B.

Later, in 8 B. This brings us to the second myth about the Roman calendar: Augustus taking a day away from February to avoid having a shorter namesake month than Julius. This myth has its origins in the writings of a 13 th -century Parisian scholar named Sacrobosco.

To avoid having three long months in a row, the senate also switched the lengths of September and October, and of November and December. This narrative is demonstrably false, particularly because it conflicts with surviving wall paintings that show the months were already irregular before Julius reformed them.

The Julian calendar persisted virtually unchanged for 1, years. Over the centuries, the Julian system of leap days — in which every fourth year got an extra day — threw the calendar off. This meant that some of the month names no longer agreed with their position in the calendar. The Republican calendar year lasted for days, which is about 10 days shorter than a tropical year , the time it takes Earth to revolve around the Sun.

To keep the calendar in sync with the seasons , a leap month called Mercedonius or Intercalaris was added in some years—normally every two to three years. By custom, the insertion of the leap month was initiated by the pontifex maximus , the high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome.

However, this system was vulnerable to abuse. Since the Roman calendar year defined the term of office of elected officials, a pontifex maximus was able to control the length of his term simply by adding a leap month. Instead of saying "it is June 22nd", the Romans would say "it is the 10th of the calends of July. The 10th because the Romans counted days inclusively 10 days to July 1st, counting the 22nd and July 1st.

The Romans identified the years by the name of the two consuls holding office in a specific year. For example, they would say "it is the year of consuls X and Y". In the first century B. The AUC system was commonly used in the Empire alongside the consular year. There were many holidays in the ancient Roman calendar and most of them were religious.

There were many fixed holidays or feriae stativae and many feriae conceptivae which were holidays with no fixed dates, the dates being decided by the priests. The Saturnalia was celebrated from the 17th to the 23rd of December and it was a holiday where Romans would party, treat everybody equal and exchange gifts. Interestingly, when the Romans adopted the Christian faith the tradition of exchanging gifts remained. Lupercalia which took place between February 13 to 15th was the Roman feast of purification.

Its purpose was to expel the evil spirits, purify the city and bring health and fertility. February also had a feast in honour of the Ghosts of the dead called the Feralia which is the reason why Romans would never get married in February. Romans also had religious holidays in March and in October to celebrate the beginning and end of the war season.

Wars could only take place between March and October when the weather was good and food resources were not limited.

The Ambarvalia was a holiday with no fixed date in the ancient Roman calendar, one of the feriae conceptivae , which celebrated the coming of Spring around the date of our Easter today. Interesting facts about the Roman calendar All days and a number of months celebrate Roman deities.

During the Roman Kingdom, even numbers were considered unlucky, and only February was allowed to have an even number of days as it was the month of purification. Romans would not want to get married in February and in the second half of June, June being the month of the goddess Juno. The Pontifex Maximus had the authority to lengthen the year and because he was often involved in Roman politics, he would sometimes lengthen the year if his political ally was in power.

For example, the year of the third consulship of Julius Caesar in 46 B. Our current calendar is actually not the Julian calendar but the Gregorian calendar introduced by Pope Gregorius - A.

Currently the difference between the Julian and the Gregorian calendar is 13 days. The tradition of exchanging gifts on Christmas comes from the Saturnalia holiday and not from the Christian tradition. New Comments If you want to correct this page or just leave a comment, please do so in the box below. Return from Ancient Roman Calendar to Homepage. Meaning of the names of days and months in the Roman calendar The calendar that we all use today celebrates Roman, not Christian deities and a number of months are named after Roman gods.

How Romans counted the days and years The original purpose of the calendar was to properly time and plan for the various religious holidays.

Religious holidays There were many holidays in the ancient Roman calendar and most of them were religious. Wiley-Blackwell, Interesting facts about the Roman religion. Enter your email to receive our newsletter. First Name optional. I am at least 16 years of age.