Where Did The Names Of The Months Come From? - Alternative View

Where Did The Names Of The Months Come From? - Alternative View
Where Did The Names Of The Months Come From? - Alternative View

Video: Where Did The Names Of The Months Come From? - Alternative View

Video: Where Did The Names Of The Months Come From? - Alternative View
Video: How did the months get their names? 2024, March
Anonim

The names of months so familiar to us appeared in ancient Rome of the tsarist period hundreds of years before the birth of Christ. The oldest Roman calendar, borrowed by the Romans from the Greeks, included only ten months and 304 days, with March being the first of the year. According to legend, the calendar was established by the first king of Rome, Romulus in the 8th century. BC.

Initially, the names of the months corresponded to the ordinal numbers, but by the end of the eighth century BC. e. some of them have acquired more “creative” names. So the first was named Martius (in honor of Mars, who was considered at that time the deity of fertility and the patron saint of Rome), the second - Aprilius (from the word "open", because at that time the greenery was blooming), the third - Maius (in honor of the patroness of the fertile land Maya), finally the fourth month Junius got its name from Juno (goddess of marriage and motherhood). The rest of the months retained the same ordinal names.

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An ancient Roman calendar carved in stone with the gods depicted above, who ruled the days of the week. Sticks were inserted into the holes corresponding to the number, day of the week and month.

Some of these numerical names in the same or modified form have survived in many languages to the present day, although the months in the generally accepted calendar are no longer 10, but 12. September is the 7th, October is the 8th, November is the 9th, December - 10th.

In the seventh century BC. under the ruler Numa Pimpilius, a more rational calendar came from the Etruscans to Rome, according to which the year was already divided into 12 months. and 355 days. In this case, seven months consisted of 29 days, 4 - of 31 days and 1 - of 28 days. Also, after every few years, 1 additional month was added to the twelve main months - Mercedonius. February at this moment was cut to 23 or 24 days, and the number of days per year increased to 377 or 378.2 additional months acquired the names Januarius (in honor of the two-faced Janus - the god of doors, choice and any undertakings) and Februarius (from the Latin Februare - to cleanse, make an atonement sacrifice at the end of the year).

Reproduction of a Roman calendar painted on plaster around 85-55 BC
Reproduction of a Roman calendar painted on plaster around 85-55 BC

Reproduction of a Roman calendar painted on plaster around 85-55 BC.

In the 46th year BC. at the direction of Julius Caesar, a radical reform of the calendar system was carried out according to the Egyptian prototype. A 4-year solar cycle (365X4) was established with different lengths of months, which is accepted to this day. 4 months include 30 days, 7 months - 31 days, February 28 days. for three years and 29 for the fourth year. The year now began on the first of January, since at that moment the consuls were changing and the business year began. From 44 BC one of the months began to be called in honor of Caesar - Julius, the next month was renamed in 8 BC. in honor of Octavian - Augustus.

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The calendar established by Caesar was named Julian and was used until the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in 1582 in Catholic countries. The Julian calendar system was based on the fact that the astronomical year is approximately 365 days and 6 hours. To align the 6-hour shift in each 4th year of the cycle, an additional day was added before the 6th day preceding the March calendars. The year with the extra day was named bis sextilis (twice the sixth). In the Russian language, this word migrated in the form of "leap".

Ancient Roman calendar. The months are January to June
Ancient Roman calendar. The months are January to June

Ancient Roman calendar. The months are January to June.

In the Eastern Slavs, even in pre-Christian times, as in ancient Rome, the year began in March, which may not be a simple coincidence. After Christianization in Russia, several calendar systems were used. Along with the Byzantine calendar, the ancient calendar traditions with the beginning of the year in March were also preserved. The Byzantine calendar became predominant since 1492. It was based on the Julian calendar, but the year began in September, and the chronology was conducted from 5509 BC. In 1699, by order of Peter, 2 elements from the Gregorian calendar were introduced: chronology - from the Nativity of Christ, the beginning of the year - January 1. Finally, in 1918, in accordance with the decree of the Council of People's Commissars, there was a transition to the Gregorian calendar system.

Dmitry Romanov