As you know, we inherited the calendar from ancient Rome. Can you count to ten in Latin? Now we will teach: unus, duo, tras, quattuor, quinque, seks, septem, octo, novem, decem. Don't you notice anything interesting?
Add the ending -ber to the last four digits - what happens? "September", "Oktober", "November", "December" … After all, these are the names of months in English! And in German, and in Russian too, although here they have turned into "September", "October", "November" and "December". But … It turns out, September is the seventh month, and December is the tenth?
The thing is that in ancient Rome the beginning of the year was counted not from January, but from March. The first month of the year was March, the second was April, and so on. With such a time count, September turned out to be the seventh month, and December - the tenth. Do you think this is where the surprises of the ancient calendar end? Oh no!
The ancient Romans had not 12 months a year, but 13!
Moreover, 13 months of the year were not every year, but two years later on the third: two years for 12 months, the third - 13. The thirteenth month was called "Mercedonius", and was inserted into the year in order to coordinate the lunar and solar calendars. Moreover, to keep the "happy" number of 12 months, the Romans inserted mercedonius … inside February!
If the chief priest of Rome (the great pontiff) announced the "year of Mercedonius", then the Romans believed this: until February 23, the month of februarius passed, and then the first day of Mercedonius came. This month lasted 27 days, and after the 27th mercedonius came the 24th februarius!
Uh-uh … What date is it today?
Moreover, in the week of the ancient Romans there were not 7 days, like ours, but 8 days! The most important days in each month were the first day (it was called "kalends", which is where our word "calendar" came from), the ninth day ("nones") and the middle of the month ("ides").
Promotional video:
The "normal" 12 months (without Mercedonius) appeared in the Roman calendar thanks to the reforms of Julius Caesar (we call this calendar Julian, the Russian Orthodox Church still lives on it), and the seven-day week we are accustomed to (from Monday to Sunday) was legalized only in IV century, during the reign of Emperor Constantine.
Guy Julius Caesar and Pope Gregory XIII are the legislators of the Julian and Gregorian calendars.
But January 1 became the official day for the beginning of the New Year only in 1582, after the calendar reform carried out by Pope Gregory XIII. Of course, the names of the months have already taken root in European languages, so no one renamed the months - December remained December, and September remained September, despite the fact that it moved from seventh to ninth place …