Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1881-12-28
NEW YEAR DAY.
Why it Fall the First of January and Why Ten
Days After the Winter Sostice.
[From the New York Evening NALL


Why does the year begin ten days
after the winter soIstice? This is q
question which puzzled great many
people, and by which no one need be
ashamed to confess that he is puzzled.
CT course this is very different ques-
ton from why does the year begin on
the first of January? 1t is evident that
the year might begin ten days after the
winter solstice, and yet the first day of
the year be called the first of July. To
combine the two questions into one, we
may ask, how does it happen that the
first of Januar is the first day of the
year and always falls on the eleventh
day after the winter solstice? Every
person of general information knows
that the order of thingsis an Inheritance
from the ancient Romans, by whom this
order was appointed, and from whom it
has been transmitted century after CEN
fury to the year 1881. But why the
ancient Romans, thus fixed the matter is
the puzzle That they must have had
reasons which they deemed good for
making such arrangements is certain.
And 1t may interest some readers to ex-
plain what those reasons were. It will,
perhaps, make the explanation clearer if
we resolve our compound question into
two, and consider first why is the first of
January New Year day.
This query is satisfactorily answered
by Theodor Mommsen, now of the uni
versity of Berlin, the highest living
authority In all the world on the facts of
Roman history. The publication of the
first two volumes of his History of Rome,
IN 1854, marks an epoch in that field of
inquiry, and gained him tie great Ger
man prize for the most important his
torical contribution of the time. We
may mention, for the benefit of those
who may like to verify what we are
about to say, that Mommsen's complet-
ed works was translated into English by
Rev. DR.. Dickson, and this English
translation has been republished in this
country by Scribner, Armstrong & Co.
Mommsen describes the rising of the in
habitants of what Is now known as Spain
and Portugal against the tyranny of
their Roman masters, and tells us how
those Spaniards and Lusitanlans were at
first completely successful The his
torian, In the English translation to
which we have referred, thereupon pro-
ceeds TO say:
"The Romans at home took matters
so seriously as to resolve on sending a
consul to Spain, step which had not
been taken since 195 B. c., and IN order
to accelerate the dispatch of aid, they
even made the new consuls enter on
office two months and half before the
legal time For this reason the day for
the consuls entering on Office was shifted
from the 18th of March to the 1st of
January, and thus was established the
beginning of the year which we still
make use Of at the present time
This, wepresume, viii settle the matter
care for all reasonable men. No one will
to question the authority of Mommsen.
who, we may add, still lives at a vener-
able age, to receive at Berlin New Year
greeting and the homage of all who de-
light to honor talent combined with pro-
found learning. We may rely upon
Mommsen when he says that the sole
reason why our New Year Day is the LIST
If January is that more than nineteen
hundred years ago Spanish and Portu-
guese barbarians took it into their heads
to revolt against their Roman masters
and so far succeeded that the masters in
their alarm put the clock of the year
ahead two months and half and in that
way fixed New Year Day for all the CEN
turies thereafter to our time.
This question being thus settled, there
remains the other question, why does
January 1st fall when it does ? Why
does it fall on the eleventh day after the
winter solstice? Why not on the
twelfth, or fifteenth or twenty-frst?
Why does it fall on the winter solstice !?
For that there would be a good reason.
The winter solstice is an important nat
ural event. 1t is the shortest day in the
year. Then there is change in nature.
The sun begins to mount higher in the
sky and the DAYS begin to lenthen.
To answer this second question it is
necessary to recall some elementary
knowledge. 1t is needful to remind
readers that originally the Roman year
was composed of ten months, each month
lasting from new moon to new moon.
December was the last month of this old
Roman year, as it's name shows. Of
course the Romans Of those early times
found out that their year of ten months
was altogether too short, and they added
to 1t two months, which they called Jan
uary and February, and which were the
eleventh and twelfth months of the an
Gent Roman year.
But even after they had made the year
twelve months long, it was, need hardly
say, still too short. The actual time
from one whistler solstice to another is
365 days and some hours, and the ancient
Roman year of twelve months had but
354 days. 1t was therefore provided that
every other year there should be an ad-
dItional month, of a length sufficient to
bring the wear r;ght But as to the Dre-
else length of this additional month
discretion was given to the Pontifex