Ch 8 · Lesson 27Latin · Chapter 8 · Lesson 27 · Themed review
Dies, mensis, annus
How Romans counted time: why September is the ninth month, the Kalends, Nones and Ides, and where the weekdays got their names.
Practise this lesson
14-word session
A quick mix of exercises - recognise, recall, type and build each word. Miss one and it comes back round until it sticks.
Worth knowing
Dies, mensis, annus: how Romans counted time
You already know the numbers that explain half the calendar. , , , : September to December are the seventh to the tenth months, because the oldest Roman year began in March.
The months
| Month | Named after |
|---|---|
| Ianuarius | Ianus, god of doors and beginnings |
| Martius | Mars; the first month of the old year |
| Iulius | Julius Caesar; it was Quintilis, the fifth, until 44 BC |
| Augustus | the emperor; it was Sextilis, the sixth, until 8 BC |
| September | |
| December | |
Caesar also fixed the calendar's length. His reform, in force from 45 BC, gave the year 365 days and an extra day every fourth year. Pope Gregory's correction of 1582 is the same calendar, adjusted.
Kalends, Nones and Ides
A Roman did not number the days of a from 1 to 31. He counted down to three fixed days:
| Day | Date |
|---|---|
| Kalendae | the 1st of every month |
| Nonae | the 5th, but the 7th in March, May, July and October |
| Idus | the 13th, but the 15th in those same four months |
Every other day was so many days before the next of them, counted inclusively: 2 January was ante diem quartum Nonas Ianuarias, the fourth day before the Nones (5, 4, 3, 2). The day just before was pridie. Caesar was killed on the Ides of March, the 15th.
Years and weeks
- Years were named after the two consuls of that year. Historians also counted ab urbe condita, from the traditional founding of the city in 753 BC, and Livy's history is known by that title. Counting from the birth of Christ,
- The week of seven days came late, and its days belong to the planets:
dies,dies, then Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. French lundi comes fromdies; English kept Saturn's day and translated Sun and Moon. - The hours ran from sunrise, so the sixth hour was midday. Spanish siesta is the sexta hora.
Try it
. - A year has twelve months.
, . - In the morning the sun comes, at night the moon.
, , : . - Yesterday, today, tomorrow: time flies.
. - A century has a hundred years.
Sources: Suetonius, Divus Iulius 40 (the reform) and 76 (a month named after him); Suetonius, Divus Augustus 31 (Sextilis renamed); Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.12-14 (the months and the reform); Censorinus, De die natali 20 (the reform's first year) and 22 (Quintilis renamed in the consulship of Caesar and Antony, 44 BC; Sextilis in that of Censorinus and Asinius Gallus, 8 BC).