Augustus for 'August'Īfter Julius's grandnephew Augustus defeated Marc Antony and Cleopatra, and became emperor of Rome, the Roman Senate decided that he too should have a month named after him. The following year he was murdered on the Ides of March. Unfortunately, Caesar himself was only able to enjoy one July during his life-the very first July, in 45 B.C. The month Julius replaced Quintilis (quintus = five)-the fifth month in the early Roman calendar, which began with March before the Julian calendar instituted January as the start of the year. The Julian calendar became the predominant calendar throughout Europe for the next 1600 years until Pope Gregory made further reforms in 1582.Ĭertain countries and institutions in fact adhered to this ancient system until well into the twentieth century: the Julian calendar was used in Russia until 1917 and in China until 1949, and to this day the Eastern Orthodox church adheres to Caesar's calendar. ( ab urbe condita-"from the founding of the city ")-January 1, 45 B.C.-and put an end to the arbitrary and inaccurate nature of the early Roman system. The new calendar went into effect on the first day of January 709 A.U.C. The high priest in charge of the calendar, the pontifex maximus, had become so corrupt that he sometimes lengthened the year to keep certain officials in office or abbreviated it to shorten an enemy's tenure. Bad calculations caused the months to drift wildly across the seasons-January, for example, had begun to fall in the autumn. The Roman Senate named the month of July after Julius Caesar to honor him for reforming their calendar, which had degenerated into a chaotic embarrassment. A history of the month's name by Borgna Brunner Related Links
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