The Roman Calendar Home Calendar The Roman Calendar The Roman Calendar The ancient Roman calendar, or “pre-Julian” calendar, is believed to have been a lunar calendar. The calendar originally consisted of hollow months that were 29 days long or full months that had 30 days. The Colosseum in Rome. The Colosseum in Rome is one of the most famous ruins from the Roman era. ©iStockphoto.com/matthewleesdixon King Romulus The original Roman calendar was said to be invented by Romulus, the first king of Rome, around 753 BCE . The calendar started the year in March (Martius) and consisted of 10 months, with 6 months of 30 days and 4 months of 31 days. The winter season was not assigned to any month, so the calendar year only lasted 304 days with 61 days unaccounted for in the winter. Calendar of Romulus: December - 30 Days Calends, Nones, and Ides Unlike the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the Roman calendar had a different system for numbering the days of the month.

The months were divided into day markers that fell at the start of the month, the fifth or seventh day, and in the middle of the month. These 3 markers were called Calends, Nones and Ides. Calends (Kalendae, Kalends) signify the start of the new moon cycle and was always the first day of the month. It is derived from the Greek word καλειν, “to announce” the days of the full and new moon. Nones (Nonae) were known to be the days of the half moon which usually occur 8 days before the Ides. Ides occurred on the 15th day of March, May, July, and October, and the 13th day of the other months. They are thought to have been the days of the full moon. Each day was referred to by how many days it fell before the Calends, Nones or Ides. For example, March 11 would be known as “Five Ides” to the Romans because it is four days before the Ides of March (March 15). Adding January and February The 304-day Roman calendar didn’t work for long because it didn’t align with the seasons.

King Numa Pompilius reformed the calendar around 700 BCE by adding the months of January (Ianuarius) and February (Februarius) to the original 10 months, which increased the year's length to 354 or 355 days. The addition of January and February meant that some of the months' names no longer agreed with their position in the calendar (September - December). The month Quintilis was renamed July in honor of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE and Sextilis was renamed August in honor of Augustus in 8 BCE. The Intercalary Month The Roman calendar was still flawed after adding January and February, as well as the days and months needed to keep the calendar in line with the seasons. Many attempts were made to align the calendar with the seasons but all failed. An extra month was added to the calendar in some years to make up for the lack of days in a year. The insertion of the intercalary month was made by the pontifex maximus, the high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome.

However this system was flawed because the Roman calendar year defined the term of office of elected officials, thus a pontifex maximus could control the length of the year depending on their political agenda. When Julius Caesar became pontifex maximus, he reformed the calendar by getting rid of the intercalary months. The Julian calendar was created, then completed during his successor Augustus' reign. Roman Calendar Months Ancient Roman Calendar Terminology Updated March 30, 2016. The Ides Can Be on the 15th You may know that the Ides of March -- the day on which Julius Caesar was assassinated -- was the 15th of March, but that doesn't mean the Ides of a month was necessarily on the 15th. The Roman calendar was originally based on the first three phases of the moon, with days counted, not according to a concept of week, but backwards from lunar phases. The new moon was the day of the Kalends, the moon's first quarter was the day of the Nones, and the Ides fell on the day of the full moon.

The Kalends' section of the month was the longest, since it spanned two lunar phases, from the full to the new moon. To see it another way: Kalends = New Moon (no moon to be seen) Nones = 1st quarter moon Ides = Full Moon (whole moon visible in the night sky) When the Romans fixed the length of the months, they also fixed the date of the Ides. In March, May, July and October, which were (most of the) months with 31 days, the Ides was on the 15th. continue reading below our video 4 Tips for Improving Test Performance On other months, it was the 13th. The number of days in the Ides period [from the Nones to the Ides ] remained the same, eight days, while the Nones period [from the Kalends to the Nones] might have four or six and the Kalends' period [from the Ides to the start of the next month] had from 16-19 days. The days from the Kalends to the Nones of March would have been written: Kal. ante diem VI Non. Mart. ante diem V Non.

Mart. ante diem IV Non. Mart. ante diem III Non. Mart. pr. Non. Mart. Early Roman Calendar | Calendars Beware the Ides of March! Roman Fasti Some 200 fragments of Roman calendars have been found so far, and they are collectively known as Fasti. What did a Roman calendar look like? The Roman calendar used a system of months, and special days in each month. Some calendars were carved in marble or stone, but many were painted on walls for decoration. Different geographical areas often held different gods in special esteem, and this led to regional variations in calendars. This doesn’t seem so strange when one considers that even within the US, Mardi Gras often appears only on Southern calendars, and Lincoln’s birthday sometimes does not. In 45 B.C.E., Romans modified their method of marking time to keep it in phase with seasons, but not require intercalation of an extra month. They accomplished this with the Julian Calendar. Month lengths were extended to bring the calendar’s total to 365 days, making it truly solar.

This change was accompanied by addition of an extra day every fourth year (after February 23rd) because of the almost six extra hours beyond 365 days in a tropical year. How do you read the calendar? In the calendar of the ancient Romans, the months contained three primary markers  the Kalends, the Nones and the Ides. The Kalends were always the first day of the month. The Nones were usually the 5th but sometimes the 7th, and the Ides were the 15th but sometimes the 13th. All the days after the Ides were numbered by counting down towards the next month’s Kalends. The holidays were generally bunched together to form continuous celebrations, and the remaining days of the month were usually nondescript workdays. The days were each identified with certain letters and names. The Kalends were always identified as shown in the diagram at right. The archaic form of the K, for Kalends, was used in front of the name of the month. The first letter was called the Nundinae ("nine day") , or the Nundinal letter, and it represented the market day.

Every 9th day (counting inclusively) was a market day, but as it shifted every year, a designated letter between A and H would represent the market day for that year. The final letter identifies the type of day for purposes of religious observance or legal business. The top diagram shows a typical non-holiday. The first letter is the nundinal letter for the market day. If the market day for this year was E then this would be a market day. The second letter signifies the type of religious or legal observance required or permitted on this day. In this case the letter C represents dies comitiales, days when committees of citizens could vote on political or criminal matters. The other letter designations : F stands for dies fasti, days on which legal action is permitted. N stands for dies nefasti, which meant that no legal action or public voting could take place on this day. EN stands for endotercisus, or intercisus, which were "in-between" F or C days in which mornings and afternoons had different designations. NP, the combination of N and P, represented some important type of religious observance of which all records have disappeared.

However, they all seem to be directly associated with major holidays. FP also represented some religious holiday, but no definition survives for this abbreviation. The center diagram is a typical festival, or feriae. On these days the day letter follows the holiday name, which is abbreviated in these calendars. These holidays are explained in the write-up for each day. The Romans enjoyed more holidays than the number of our holidays and weekends combined. Roman taxes were also only a tithe, or 10%. One of the hallmarks of progress seems to be that the populace is always made to work longer and, on top of it all, they are taxed more. What were the Roman weekdays? The Romans did not have weekdays in the same sense as our Monday, Tuesday, etc., however, they did have a defined markers within each month. Originally, the month and the markers were based on the moon. At the time of their early kings, Roman months were of a length identical to the lunar cycle. Each month was divided into sections that ended on the day of one of the first three phases of the moon: new, first quarter or full. All days were referred to in terms of one of these three moon phase names, Kalends, Nones or Ides.

At that time a pontifex (priest) was assigned to observe the sky. When he first sighted a thin lunar crescent he called out that there was a new moon and declared the next month had started. For centuries afterward, Romans referred to the first day of each month as Kalendae or Kalends from the Latin word calare (to announce solemnly, to call out). The word calendar was derived from this custom. Day of Kalends Of the three sections, Kalends was the longest  it had more days than the other two combined. That’s because it spanned more than two lunar phases, starting from the day after full moon and continuing thru its last quarter and waning period, then past the dark new moon until another lunar crescent was sighted. The day of Kalends itself began a new month. It was dedicated to Juno, a principal goddess of the Roman Pantheon. Unnamed days in the early Roman month were assigned a number by counting down following the day of each named phase, day by day, ending with the next of those three phases. The first numbered day in each section had the section’s highest value. Each succeeding day was one number lower than that of the day before.

(Similar to the modern count-down when coordination of a group of people is required for a complicated activity such as launching a rocket.) Latin for "the evening before" is "Pridie," a word that was used to refer to the day before each of these named phases. So Pridie was always the day that would otherwise have been numbered two. The count-down was inclusive; the day from which they started as well as that of the moon phase to which they were counting down, day one, were both included. Day of Nones Nones (Latin nonus or ninth) was originally the day when the moon reached its first quarter phase. When the pontifex initially saw the lunar crescent he noted its width and, using empirical knowledge, calculated the number of days that were expected to elapse between then and the first quarter moon. He then specified that number after he announced the new crescent. If he called out the number six, the day following Kalends would be referred to as the sixth day before Nones. In any given year, the second day of Martius might well have been designated as the sixth of the Nones of March: "ante diem VI Non.

Mart." If this were the case, Nones would be the seventh day and Ides would be the 15th day of that month. The difference between these two dates, eight days, was always the length of the Ides section. Use of the word "Nones" (nine) was intended to express the inclusive number of elapsed days between first quarter and full moons. Actually, the time between moon phases now averages about 7.4 days, but they sometimes occur eight days apart. Eight-day separations of first quarter and full moons now usually come grouped in consecutive lunations. They then give way to mostly seven-day periods. Six of the first seven lunations of 1997, for instance, had their first quarter and full moon phases eight days apart (inclusive nine-day spans). Also, July 1 of 1998 had a first-quarter moon followed by a new moon on July 9, a nine-day period. This helps explain why the unlikely term of Nones, meaning ninth, was used to designate one fourth of the moon’s period that now averages about 29.53 days. Day of Ides Ides, dedicated to Jupiter, was originally the time of the full moon.

Because a full moon comes halfway thru each lunation, its day was called Idus in Latin from an Etruscan word meaning "divide." After Ides, the next new moon was expected to appear in from 15 to 17 days. Variations in the length of time before another new moon can be sighted is due to constantly changing positions of moon and Earth relative to the sun. When did they stop using the moon for months? Romans separated their months from the lunar cycle in the fifth century B.C.E. Month lengths then became fixed. At that time, Ides was assigned as the 15th day in all months given 31 days in length  March, May, July and October. It was designated as the 13th day in all other months. As a result, from then on the Kalends section had from 16 to 19 days, the Nones section had either four or six days and the Ides section, as before, always had eight days.

Sometime after Kalends, Nones and Ides were fixed on predetermined days of the month rather than being defined by phases of the moon, Romans used letters A thru H on the left side of each month’s calendar column to indicate days of their eight-day marketing week. The first day of each new year was represented by the letter "A." When did the early Roman calendar begin? The early Roman calendar originated as a local calendar in the city of Rome, supposedly drawn up by Romulus some seven or eight centuries before the Christian Era. The year began in March and consisted of 10 months, six of 30 days and four of 31 days, making a total of 304 days: it ended in December, to be followed by what seems to have been an uncounted winter gap. Numa Pompilius, according to tradition the second king of Rome (715?-673? B.C.E.), is supposed to have added two extra months, January and February, to fill the gap and to have increased the total number of days by 50, making 354.

To obtain sufficient days for his new months, he is then said to have deducted one day from the 30-day months, thus having 56 days to divide between January and February. But since the Romans had, or had developed, a superstitious dread of even numbers, January was given an extra day; February was still left with an even number of days, but as that month was given over to the infernal gods, this was considered appropriate. The system allowed the year of 12 months to have 355 days, an uneven number. When did the Roman republican calendar begin? The so-called Roman republican calendar was supposedly introduced by the Etruscan Tarquinius Priscus (616-579 B.C.E.), according to tradition the fifth king of Rome. The Roman republican calendar was a dating system that evolved in Rome prior to the Christian era. According to legend, Romulus, the founder of Rome, instituted the calendar in about 738 B.C.E. This dating system, however, was probably a product of evolution from the Greek lunar calendar, which in turn was derived from the Babylonian.

The original Roman calendar appears to have consisted only of 10 months and of a year of 304 days. The remaining 61¼ days were apparently ignored, resulting in a gap during the winter season. The months bore the names Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Juniius, Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November, and Decemberthe last six names correspond to the Latin words for the numbers 5 through 10. The Roman ruler Numa Pompilius is credited with adding January at the beginning and February at the end of the calendar to create the 12-month year. In 452 B.C.E., February was moved between January and March. By the 1st century B.C.E., the Roman calendar had become hopelessly confused. The year, based on cycles and phases of the moon, totaled 355 days, about 10¼ days shorter than the solar year. The occasional intercalation of an extra month of 27 or 28 days, called Mercedonius, kept the calendar in step with the seasons. The confusion was compounded by political maneuvers.

The Pontifex Maximus and the College of Pontiffs had the authority to alter the calendar, and they sometimes did so to reduce or extend the term of a particular magistrate or other public official. Finally, in 46 B.C.E., Julius Caesar initiated a thorough reform that resulted in the establishment of a new dating system, the Julian calendar. He wanted the year to begin in January since it contained the festival of the god of gates (later the god of all beginnings), but expulsion of the Etruscan dynasty in 510 B.C.E. led to this particular reform’s being dropped. The Roman republican calendar still contained only 355 days, with February having 28 days; March, May, July, and October 31 days each; January, April, June, August, September, November, and December 29 days. It was basically a lunar calendar and short by 10¼ days of a 365¼ -day tropical year.

In order to prevent it from becoming too far out of step with the seasons, an intercalary month, Intercalans, or Mercedonius (from merces, meaning wages, since workers were paid at this time of year), was inserted between February 23 and 24. It consisted of 27 or 28 days, added once every two years, and in historical times at least, the remaining five days of February were omitted. The intercalation was therefore equivalent to an additional 22 or 23 days, so that in a four-year period the total days in the calendar amounted to (4 x 355) + 22 + 23, or 1,465: this gave an average of 366.25 days per year. Intercalation was the duty of the Pontifices, a board that assisted the chief magistrate in his sacrificial functions. The reasons for their decisions were kept secret, but, because of some negligence and a measure of ignorance and corruption, the intercalations were irregular, and seasonal chaos resulted.

In spite of this and the fact that it was over a day too long compared with the tropical year, much of the modified Roman republican calendar was carried over into the Gregorian calendar now in general use. What were the Roman months? Much of the knowledge we now have about early Roman calendars came from Ovid, a Roman born in 43 B.C.E., and from Plutarch, a Greek biographer who wrote between C.E. 105 and 115. Both of them had access to historical documents that are no longer extant. Ovid claimed that his information was "dug up in archaic calendars," so it was already ancient over two thousand years ago. We can assume that the Roman calendar was brought from their birthplace by Rome’s original citizens. Initially, it contained only ten months. It has been suggested that those month lengths reflected growth cycles of crops and cattle. When compared with the solar year, it had an uncounted winter period of approximately sixty days. Plutarch said that months at the time of Rome’s founding were of varying lengths, some as short as twenty days and others with thirty-five or more in what early Romans believed was a year of three hundred and sixty days.

Romulus, the legendary first king, was said to have made extensive changes to those month lengths, assigning twenty-nine days to some and thirty-one to others. → Read excerpt of Plutarch’s essay . March (the first month) Both Ovid and Plutarch said that Martius, originally the first month, was named after Mars, the Roman god of war. Six of the other original ten were simply numbered as Quintilis thru Decembris (fifth thru tenth) but there were already disagreements when Ovid wrote, two thousand years ago, as to the sources of names for what were originally the second thru fourth, Aprilis, Maius and Junius. These disagreements continue to the present time. April When writing about April, Ovid said "I have come to the fourth month, full of honor for you; Venus, you know both the poet and the month are yours." It was later said that "April was sacred to Venus, and her festival  the Festum Veneris and Fortuna Virilis  occurred on the first day of this month." Apparently Aprilis stems from aphrilis, corrupted from Aphrodite, a Greek name for Venus.

Jakob Grimm, a later authority, opposed this stating it may have originated from the name of a god or hero named Aper or Aprus." May Maius was said by some to be named after the goddess Maia, a daughter of Atlas, and Junius "is indirectly named after the goddess Juno, the Roman equivalent of Frigga." But Ovid suggested that names of months we now call May and June possibly refer not to sky-gods but rather to elders and young men. January (at the end of the year) There was also disagreement in Ovid’s day as to the sequence and time at which Januarius and Februarius were added to the original ten months. Januarius became part of the calendar within half a century after Rome was founded because Plutarch said that Numa, the king who followed Romulus, made it the first month of the year and made February the last. One historian assigns that action an exact date by stating that "January and February were added to an original Roman calendar of only ten months in 713 B.C.E." January was named after Janus, a sky-god who was ancient even at the time of Rome’s founding.

Ovid quoted Janus as saying "The ancients called me chaos, for a being from of old am I." After describing the world’s creation, he again quoted Janus: "It was then that I, till that time a mere ball, a shapeless lump, assumed the face and members of a god." A Lydian named Joannes identified Janus as a planet when he wrote: "Our own Philadelphia still preserves a trace of the ancient belief. On the first day of the month there goes in procession no less a personage than Janus himself, dressed up in a two-faced mask, and people call him Saturnus, identifying him with Kronos." Early Romans believed that the beginning of each day, month and year were sacred to Janus. They thought he opened the gates of heaven at dawn to let out the morning, and that he closed them at dusk. This eventually led to his worship as the god of all doors, gates, and entrances. Some say Februarius got its name from a goatskin thong called a februa ("means of purification.") On the 15th day of this month Romans observed the festival of Lupercalia.

During the festival, a februa was wielded by priests who used it to beat women in the belief that it would make a barren woman fertile. However, there’s a Latin verb februare, meaning to "expiate" or "purify." It seems more reasonable to assume the purification people had in mind when naming the month was that of the calendar year’s length, not that of women upon whom the thong was applied. Februrary (at the end of the year) Apparently Februarius, when adopted, had but 23 days  traditionally the 23rd day of that month was the end of the calendar year. That indicates Februarius was observed in pre-Romulan times when months had as few as twenty days. Also, adding five days at year-end (to extend February’s length to 28) is similar to the change made by many other peoples who, around the time of Rome’s founding, added five days to their own calendar, but considered them to be unlucky and not part of the normal year. Why is our leap day in Februrary, not the end of the year?

Romans always reconciled differences between calendar and solar year lengths during the "Month of Purification." Whenever and however Roman calendars were modified to correspond to year length, it was always done after the 23rd day of February, traditionally the last day of the year. Even in our time, leap year is observed with a 29-day February. To purists, "leap day" is February 24, not the 29th. Plutarch wrote: "Numa...added an intercalary month, to follow February, consisting of twenty-two days, and called by the Romans the month Mercedinus. This amendment, however, itself, in course of time, came to need other amendments." (When observed, that leap month always immediately followed February 23.) According to historian Livy, Numa divided the year into twelve months, corresponding to the moon’s revolutions.

But as the moon does not complete thirty days in each month, and so there are fewer days in the lunar year than in that measured by the course of the sun, he interpolated intercalary months and so arranged them that every twentieth year the days should coincide with the same position of the sun as when they started, the whole twenty years being thus complete. He also established a distinction between the days on which legal business could be transacted and those on which it could not, because it would sometimes be advisable that there should be no business transacted with the people. Others claim that it wasn’t until 452 B.C.E. that a month named Intercalaris was added to the Roman calendar in order to add those days required to bring calendar length back into phase with the solar year. This month also began after the 23rd day of Februarius. It was observed every second year and was said to have had a length of either 22 or 23 days, with the remaining five days of Februarius added after them. Beware the Ides of March! SOOTHSAYER. He is a dreamer; let us leave him. Pass. [Sennet.

Exeunt all but BRUTUS and CASSIUS.] If you’ve heard the warning, "Beware the Ides of March," then it’s probably due to the works of William Shakespeare. The Roman ruler, Julius Caesar, was assassinated on the Ides of March - March 15, 44 B.C.E. In Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, (I, ii, 33), a soothsayer tells Caesar who is already on his way to the Senate (and his death), "Beware the Ides of March." Caesar asks him to come closer and repeat what he has just said. He studies the man’s face, listens to the warning again, but decIdes, "He is a dreamer, let us leave him. Pass." There is irony here, because the audience knows (from history) that Caesar will be killed on the Ides, and that he is exercising poor judgement in dismissing this prophecy.

Later, when he meets the Soothsayer again on the way to the Senate, he confidently says to him, "The Ides of March have come." But the Soothsayer reminds him, "Ay, Caesar, but not gone." There will be other warnings to Caesar from different people, which he will ignore, and go off to meet his death. The phrase "Beware the Ides of March" is one of the most remembered lines of Shakespeare’s plays. The unidentified soothsayer from Shakespeare’s play may have been a Roman astrologer by the name of Spurinna. According to to historical writer C.J.S. Thompson (and confirmed in Plutarch’s account of the story written in 75 C.E.) it was reportedly sometime prior to the fateful day of March 15 that Spurinna had first given Caesar the famous warning to "beware of the Ides of March." The astrologer, Spurinna, had previously warned Caesar that on the Ides of March, he would be in great danger. If, however, Julius Caesar took care on that one day - then all would be well.

According to Plutarch, Caesar had previously made the wise decision to stay within the safety of his bedroom chambers on the 15th of March. However, Caesar’s "friend" Decimus (Albinus) Brutus (not Marcus Brutus) managed to convince him that the astrologer’s warnings were nothing more than superstitious foolishness. So Julius Caesar decided to attend the Senate on the 15th of March. On his way to the Senate, Caesar "accidentally" met up with the astrologer, Spurinna. Caesar then told the astrologer "The Ides of March are come." Spurinna answered, "Yes, they are come, but they are not past." Later that day - on March 15, 44 B.C.E - Caesar’s enemies assassinated him in the Pompey theater, at the foot of Pompey’s statue, where the Roman Senate was meeting that day in the temple of Venus. Ides of March Roman Numeral Challenge The soothsayer's warning to Julius Caesar , "Beware the Ides of March," has forever imbued that date with a sense of foreboding.

But in Roman times the expression "Ides of March" did not necessarily evoke a dark mood—it was simply the standard way of saying "March 15." Surely such a fanciful expression must signify something more than merely another day of the year? Not so. Even in Shakespeare's time, sixteen centuries later, audiences attending his play Julius Caesar wouldn't have blinked twice upon hearing the date called the Ides. The term Ides comes from the earliest Roman calendar , which is said to have been devised by Romulus , the mythical founder of Rome . Whether it was Romulus or not, the inventor of this calendar had a penchant for complexity. The Roman calendar organized its months around three days, each of which served as a reference point for counting the other days: Kalends (1st day of the month) Nones (the 7th day in March, May, July, and October; the 5th in the other months) Ides (the 15th day in March, May, July, and October; the 13th in the other months) The remaining, unnamed days of the month were identified by counting backwards from the Kalends, Nones, or the Ides.

For example, March 3 would be V Nones—5 days before the Nones (the Roman method of counting days was inclusive; in other words, the Nones would be counted as one of the 5 days). Days in March March 6: Pridie Nones (Latin for "on the day before"); March 7: Nones; March 15: Ides Used in the first Roman calendar as well as in the Julian calendar (established by Julius Caesar in 45 B.C.E.) the confusing system of Kalends, Nones, and Ides continued to be used to varying degrees throughout the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance . So, the Ides of March is just one of a dozen Ides that occur every month of the year. Kalends, the word from which calendar is derived, is another exotic-sounding term with a mundane meaning. Kalendrium means account book in Latin: Kalend, the first of the month, was in Roman times as it is now, the date on which bills are due. Did you know? Month Names Month Names Where do the month names come from? Name This month opens the year. February This was a Roman month of sacrifices and purification.

March Start of year for soldiers (no fighting during winter) April This is the month when trees open their leaves. May This is the month when plants really start to grow. June He thought he was at least as important as Julius Caesar! September Seventh month (counting from March) October Eighth month (counting from March) November Ninth month (counting from March) December ten Tenth month (counting from March) When you look at September, October, November and December, it seems as if the Romans couldn't count! But their year used to start in March. When Julius Caesar reorganised the calendar and made it start in January, he kept the old names, apart from one month, which he called after himself. Augustus came after Julius Caesar and changed the name of another month. The Romans had the same months as us. They had special names for the first day in the month (the Kalends), the seventh day (the Nones) and the fifteenth (the Ides). The Kalends belonged to Juno . The Ides belonged to Jupiter . They did not have weeks like us. The infomation on this page comes from Plutarch, who has some other ideas about month names as well.

Click here for a translation of Plutarch's description. THE CALENDAR CALENDAR CALENDAR The word derives from medieval latin kalendarium meaning account book, itself from kalendae, CALENDS, the day when interest on debts became due in the roman calendar. The Gregorian Calendar was proclaimed in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII. No century year is a leap year unless it is exactly divisible by 400, e.g. 1600, 2000. A leap second has been added to the national time scale at midnight 31 December 1995. The "Greenwich" time signal to mark the transition between 1995 and 1996 will contain six short pips instead of the usual five before the start of the long pip which marks the hour. The decision to change the time was made by Paris's International Earth Rotation Services. The end 1995 leap second will be the 29th since Coordinated Universal Time began in 1972. 1996 is The Year of The Rat according to Chinese Astrology.

Celebrations of the lunar new year are from February 19 to 21 1996. The cycle of years commencing in 1996 is :- Rat in leap years 30 Note 1. The equinoxes occur on March 21 and September 23, the solstices on June 22 and December 22. Note 2. In leap years Adar is followed by Veadar or Adar Sheni, an intercalary month of 29 days. Note 3. Anciently called Abib; the first month of the postexilic calendar; sometimes called the first month of the ecclesiastical year. Note 4. Retrogresses through the seasons; the Muhammadan year is lunar and each month begins at the approximate new moon; the year 1 A.H. began on Friday, July 16, A.D. 622. Note 5. An extra month is inserted after every month in which two new moons occur (once in three years). The intercalary month has the name of the one that precedes it. Note 6. Baisakh is sometimes considered the first month of the Hindu year.

Equinox - The time when the sun crosses the plane of the earth's equator, making night and day all over the earth of equal length. Solstice - Either of the two times in the year when the sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator and apparently does not move north or south, called in the southern hemisphere the winter solstice and the summer solstice. DAYS OF THE WEEK Old English - sunnandaeg. The first day of the week dedicated to the sun. Monday The second day of the week. The day of the moon. Tuesday The third day of the week Wednesday The fourth day of the week. Woden�s day or Odin�s Day The Persians regarded it highly because the moon was created on the fourth day. Thursday The fifth day of the week. French - Jeudi Jove�s Day. The day of the god THOR. Both Jupiter(Jove) and Thor were gods of thunder. Thursday was sometimes called Thunderday Friday The sixth day of the week. Ancient Rome -dies Veneris, day of venus.

Friday was regarded by the Norse as the luckiest day of the week, when weddings took place, but was regarded by christians as unlucky because it was the day of the crucifixion. Saturday Anglo Saxon -Saeternes daeg, after the latin, Saturni dies, the day of Saturn. Calendar. The word comes from Medieval Latin kalendarium, account book, itself from Kalendae, CALENDS, the day when interest on debts became due in the ROMAN CALENDAR. Gregorian. Gregorian calendar. A modification of the JULIAN CALENDAR, also called the New Style, introduced in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII. Gregorian year. The civil year according to the correction introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. The equinox, which occurred on 25 March in the time of Julius Caesar, fell on 11 March in the year 1582. This was because the Julian calculation of 365 1/4 days to a year was 11 minutes 14 seconds too long.

Gregory suppressed 10 days by altering 5 October to 15 October, thus making the equinox fall on 21 October 1583. Further simple arrangements prevented the recurrence of a similar error in the future. The change was soon adopted by most Roman Catholic countries, but the Protestant countries did not accept it until much later. The New Style was not adopted by England and Scotland until 1752. At the same time the beginning of the civil or legal year was altered from LADY DAY (25 March) to 1 January, a change adopted in Scotland in 1600. Sweden adopted the New Style calendar in 1753, Japan in 1873, China in 1912, Russia in 1918 and Greece in 1923. The GREGORIAN CALENDAR differs from the JULIAN CALENDAR in that no century year is a leap year unless it is exactly divisible by 400, e.g. 1600 and 2000. Newgate Calendar. A biographical record of the more notorius criminals confined at Newgate.

It was begun in 1773 and continued at intervals for many years. In 1824-8 Andrew Knapp and William Baldwin published, in 4 volumes, The Newgate Calendar, compromising Memoirs of Notorius Characters, partly compiled by George Borrow, and in 1886, C. Pelham published his Chronicles of Crime or the New Newgate Calendar (2 volumes). Another such calendar was published in 1969. The term is often used as a comprehensive expression embracing crime of every sort. Jewish calendar. This dates from the Creation, fixed at 3761 ac, and consists of 12 months of 29 and 30 days alternately, with an additional month of 30 days interposed in embolismic (intercalary) years to prevent any great divergence from the months of the solar year. The 3rd, 6th, 11th, 14th, 17th, and 19th years of the METONIC CYCLE are embolismic years.

The names of the months are: Nisan, Iyyar, Sivan, Tammuz, Av, Elul, Tishri, Marcheshvan, Kislev, Tevet, Shevat and Adar. Julian calendar. The calendar instituted by Julius CAESAR in 46 BC, which was in general use in western Europe until the introduction of the GREGORIAN CALENDAR in 1582 and was still used in England until 1752 and until 1918 in Russia. To allow for the odd quarter of a day, Caesar ordained that every fourth year should contain 366 days, the additional day being introduced after the 6th before the CALENDS of March, i.e. 24 February. Caesar also divided the months into the number of days they at present contain. It is now called OLD STYLE. Muslim calendar. A calendar used in Islamic countries, which dates from 16 July 622, the day of the HEGIRA. It consists of 12 lunar months of 29 days 12 hours 44 minutes each.

As a result the Muslim year consists of only 354 or 355 days. A cycle is 30 years. The names of the months are: Muharran, Safar, Rabi, I, Rabi II, Jamada I, Jumada II, Rajab, Shaaban, RAMADAN, Shawwal, Dhul-Qada, Dhul-Hijjah. Roman calendar. The calendar of ancient Rome. It originally consisted of 10 months and had a special extra month intercalated between 23 and 24 February. It was superseded by the JULIAN CALENDAR in 45 BC. Give us back our eleven days. When England adopted the GREGORIAN CALENDAR (by Chesterfields Act of 1751) in place of the JULIAN CALENDAR, eleven days were dropped, 2 September 1752 being followed by 14 September. Many people thought that they were being cheated out of eleven days and also eleven days pay. Hence the popular cry: Give us back our eleven days! Ides.

In the ancient ROMAN CALENDAR the 15th day of March, May, July and October and the 13th day of all the other months. The day always fell eight days after the NONES. Nones. In the ancient ROMAN CALENDAR the ninth (Latin nonus) day before IDES, and in the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, the office for the ninth hour after sunrise, i.e. between 12 noon and 3 pm. Year (connected with Greek horos, season, and Latin hora, hour). The period of time occupied by the revolution of the earth round the sun. The astronomical, equinoctial, natural, solar or tropical year is the time taken by the sun in returning to the same equinox, in mean length, 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes and 46 seconds. The astral or sidereal year is the time in which the sun returns from a given star to the same star again: 365 days 6 hours 9 minutes and 9.6 seconds.

The Platonic, great or perfect year (Annus magnus), is a great cycle of years (estimated by early Greek astronomers at about 26,000 years) at the end of which all the heavenly bodies were imagined to return to the same places as they occupied at the Creation. Anno Domini (Latin, in the year of our Lord.) This system of dating from the Nativity of Christ was introduced by the monk Dionysius Exiguus, who lived in the first half of the 6th century. Anno Domini is also used colloquially as a synonym for old age, as: He is beginning to feel the effects of Anno Domini. The phrase is invariably abbreviated AD in dates. Annus, Annus horribilis (Latin, horrible year.) Any disastrous or unpleasant year. Such for the Royal Family was 1992, which saw the divorce of the Princess Royal, the separation of the Duke and Duchess of York, newspaper photographs of the latter topless, and a fearful fire at Windsor Castle. The Queen used the phrase in a speech to guests at a banquet in the Guildhall that year.

Annus luctus (Latin, year of mourning.) The period during which a widow is supposed to remain unmarried. If she marries within about nine months from the death of her husband and a child is born, a doubt might arise as to its paternity. Annus mirabilis (Latin, wonderful year.) Such a year was 1666, memorable for the GREAT FIRE OF LONDON and the successes of English arms over the Dutch, commemorated in Drydens poem titled Annus Mirabilis (1667). Regnal year. The year beginning with a monarchs accession. In Great Britain Acts of Parliament are still referred to by the regnal year in which they were passed. Thus the Local Government Act 1929, is also dated 19 Geo 5, the 19th year of the reign of George V. Sabbath (Hebrew, shabath to rest.) Properly, the seventh day of the week, enjoined on the ancient Hebrews by the fourth Commandment (Exodus 20:8-11) as a day of rest and worship.

The Christian SUNDAY, the Lord�s Day, the first day of the week, is often inaccurately referred to as the Sabbath. For Muslims, FRIDAY is the weekly day of rest. Sabbatarians. Those who observe the day of rest with excessive strictness, a peculiar feature of English and Scottish Puritanism enforced during the period of the COMMONWEALTH when sport and recreation were forbidden. Some relaxation occurred after the RESTORATION, but the Lord�s Day Observance Act of 1782 closed on a Sunday all places of entertainment where an admission fee was charged. A Sunday Entertainments Act, 1932, empowered local authorities to license the Sunday opening of cinemas and musical entertainments, and the opening of museums and the like was permitted. The Bill was opposed by the Lords Day Observance Society. More recently, the same Society has opposed Sunday trading and the increased opening of shops and stores on Sunday. Sabbath Days journey. The journey so mentioned in Acts 1:12 was not, with the Jews, to exceed the distance between the ark and the extreme end of the camp. This was 2000 cubits, about 1000 yards (914m).

It arose from the injunction (Exodus 16:29) against journeying on the Sabbath with that (Joshua 3:4) providing for a distance of 2000 cubits between the ark and the people when they travelled in the wilderness. As their tents were this distance from the ark, it was held that they might properly travel this distance, since the injunction could not have been intended to prevent their attendance at worship. Sabbatical year. One year in seven, when the land, according to Mosaic law, was to lie fallow (Exodus 23:10, Leviticus 25: 2-7, Deuteronomy 15: 1-11). The term is used in universities and the academic world generally for a specified period of freedom from duties, during which time a professor or lecturer is released to study or travel. Hajj (Arabic, pilgrimage.) The pilgrimage to the KAABA, which every Muslim is obliged to make at least once before death. Those who neglect to do so might as well die Jews or Christians.

The pilgrimage begins on the 7th day of the 12th month of the year, Dhu al-Hijjah, and ends on the 12th day. Until comparatively recent times none but a Muslim could make this pilgrimage except at risk of life, and the Hajj was performed only by Johann Burckhardt (1784-1817), Richard Burton (1821-90) and a few other travellers who disguised themselves as Muslims. Hajji. A Muslim who has made the HAJJ and who is therefore entitled to wear a green turban. Various Sources were consulted for the above information including Websters Dictionary, Brewers Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. The Roman Calendar Home > Calendar > The Roman Calendar The Roman Calendar ©iStockphoto.com/matthewleesdixon The Roman or “pre-Julian” calendar was created during the founding of Rome and is believed to have been a lunar calendar. The calendar originally consisted of hollow months that were 29 days long or full months that had a length of 30 days. King Romulus The original Roman calendar was said to be invented by Romulus, the first king of Rome around 753 BCE.

The calendar started the year in March (Martius) and consisted of a total of ten months, with six months of 30 days and four months with a length of 31 days. The winter season was not assigned to any month, thus the calendar year only lasted 304 days with 61 days unaccounted for in the winter. Calendar of Romulus: Chinese calendar Unlike the Julian and Gregorian calendar , the Roman calendar had a different system for numbering the days of the month. The months were divided into day markers that fell at the beginning of the month, the fifth or seventh day and in the middle of the month. These three markers were called calends, nones and ides. Calends (Kalendae, Kalends) signify the start of the new moon cycle and was always the first day of the month. It is derived from the Greek word καλειν, “to announce” the days of the full and new moon. Nones (Nonae) were known to be the day of the half moon which usually occurs eight days before the ides.

Ides occur on the thirteenth day in eight of the months but on the fifteenth day in March, May July, and October. They are thought to have been the day of the full moon. Each day was referred to by how many days it fell before the calends, nones or ides. For example, 11 March would be known as “Five ides” to the Romans because it is four days before the ides of March (15 March). Adding January and February The 304-day Roman calendar didn’t work for long because it didn’t align with the seasons. King Numa Pompilius reformed the calendar around 700 BCE by adding the months of January (Ianuarius) and February (Februarius) to the original ten months, which increased the length of the year to 354 or 355 days. The addition of January and February meant that some of the names of the months no longer agreed with their position in the calendar (September - December). The month Quintilis was renamed July in honor of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE and Sextilis was renamed August in honor of Augustus in 8 BCE.

The Intercalary Month The calendar was still flawed after the addition of January and February and needed days and months intercalated to keep it in line with the seasons. Several attempts were made to align the calendar with the seasons but all failed. An extra month was added to the calendar in some years to make up for the lack of days in a year. The insertion of the intercalary month was made by the pontifex maximus, the high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome. However this system was flawed because the Roman calendar year defined the term of office of elected officials, thus a pontifex maximus could control the length of the year depending on their political agenda. When Julius Caesar became pontifex maximus, he reformed the calendar that eliminated the use of intercalary months which resulted in the Julian calendar and was completed during the reign of his successor Augustus. Roman calendar Months and Lengths Common Year Nones - definition of nones by The Free Dictionary Nones - definition of nones by The Free Dictionary (nōnz) pl.n. 1.

In the ancient Roman calendar, the ninth day (inclusively) before the ides of a month, falling on the seventh day of March, May, July, or October and the fifth day of the other months. 2. Ecclesiastical a. The fifth of the seven canonical hours. No longer in liturgical use. b. The time of day appointed for this service, usually the ninth hour after sunrise. [Middle English, from Old French, from Latin nōnae, feminine pl. of nōnus, ninth; see newn̥ in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] nones (nəʊnz) n (functioning as singular or plural) 1. (in the Roman calendar) the ninth day before the ides of each month: the seventh day of March, May, July, and October, and the fifth of each other month. See also calends 2.

(Ecclesiastical Terms) chiefly RC Church the fifth of the seven canonical hours of the divine office, originally fixed at the ninth hour of the day, about 3 pm [Old English nōn, from Latin nōna hora ninth hour, from nōnus ninth] nones1 (noʊnz) n. the fifth canonical hour, or the service for it, orig. fixed for the ninth hour of the day (or 3 p . m .). [1375–1425] (noʊnz) n. (often cap.) (used with a sing. or pl. v.) (in the ancient Roman calendar) the ninth day before the ides. [1375–1425; late Middle English; Anglicization of Latin nōnae, orig. feminine pl. of nōnus ninth] ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Question: In the Roman calendar, what was the 7th day called for the months of March, May, July and October?
Answer: Nones