When I began writing this, it was intended as a description of the origin of the names of the months. What I had in mind then, were mainly the present Gregorian/Julian months of Roman origin, as per a private discussion with a friend. I soon decided to include some other major languages/cultures, like the Indian, Arabic/Islamic, and Chinese, but it tended to grow. Months led to the Zodiac, or zodiacs, so in the end I had to remove some material or sum up some things very briefly. Generally, I have concentrated on the different major traditions, those with independent contributions to the history of calendars; and whose systems can in some sense be considered international, or ancestral to other systems.
Sometimes I have included comments or explanations not strictly related to the names of the months and their origin or to other calendric matters. This is not in any way done according to any principle, but merely my own subjective digression from the point when something occurs to me as being an interesting and educating detail. I'm convinced that it makes reading more entertaining. If you are used to read my articles, you know that it is part of my literary style.
Names of months in languages not normally using the Latin alphabet may have different transcriptional forms. What I use here is not always the only possible alternative. If you find other forms in life or literature, they are not necessarily more right or wrong than those I use, they simply represent another principle of transcription.
Months led to calendars and the Zodiac, and zodiacs led to astrology. Calendars and years are dealt with here just in the context of months and Zodiacs - and astrology is included only in its capacity of being cultural history and in its relation to calendars. I do not discuss its theory, methods, interpretation, or credibility here.
The part about Zodiacs have already been published: About Zodiacs & Astrology (Egyptian, Babylonian, Indian, Chinese).
An introduction to the concepts were also published before, as Zodiac, Month, Year: Some Scientific Elementa. I suggest serious readers to first read that in order to fully understand the concepts. In the article I discuss different forms of calendars and various terms. In a sense, it is a prelude to the present series, which consists of 4 parts. The first part follows here.
Julian/Gregorian/Christian Months
All the names we use for the months of the Gregorian calendar are of Roman origin.
1. January: Janus, god of doors, beginnings and endings, sunset and sunrise. He had one face looking forward and one backward. Sir William Bentham (1779–1853) suggested he was originally the Mesopotamian Uanna, later the Chaldean Baal-ianus and finally the Roman Janus. Cicero (106–43BC), however, claimed that the name was derived from Latin "ire", transition. It has also been speculated on whether it might come from Sanskrit "yana", also meaning transition. A fact, however, is that "jauna" means door in Etruscan, and that a connection with this is likely. The fact that there is no counterpart to Janus in Greek mythology from which the Romans derived so much of theirs is a little puzzling.
The two heads symbolise Janus's ability to see both the future and the past. Early depictions show Janus with one bearded and one unbearded face, this difference disappeared over time. Before that, however, one can find him with four heads.
2. February: Februalia, a time for forgiveness of sins. Februare to purify. Or from Februus, a god.
3. March: Mars, the god of war. This was the first month of the earliest Roman year, that is why September-December are named the seventh–tenth month, although in modern usage they are the ninth-twelfth.
Mars's parents were Juno and Jupiter, and his wife was Bellona.
This war god probably began as a god of agriculture and fertility, originally Etruscan "Maris".
4. April: Can be derived from aperire [Latin to open]. Another theory links it with Aphrodite/Venus.
5. May: from Maiesta, or Maia, mother of Mercury by Jupiter and daughter of Atlas. It might also come from maiores, grown up men. Maia means "the great one". She was the wife of Vulcan, daughter of Faunus.
6. June: Juno, chief goddess, wife of Jupiter. Another theory links it to iuniores, young men.
7. July: Named after Julius Caesar. Before his time it was called Quintilis [fifth month].
8. August: Named after Augustus. Previous name: Sextilis [sixth month].
9. September: [septem, Lat. seven]. It was thought that the months should be named after Roman emperors following Augustus, but Tiberius feared that as a bad omen (both Julius and Augustus were murdered), so he refused having a month named after himself. It simply continued to be called the seventh, September.
10. October: Eighth month [octo, Lat. eight].
11. November: Ninth month [novem, Lat. nine].
12. December: Tenth month [decem, Lat. ten].
Had Tiberius not had this paranoia [which might very well have been justified since he, too, was murdered, in spite of not having his own month] September-December might have been named after: Tiberius, Gajus (Caligula), Claudius, and Nero. It was later brought up by Domitian who changed the name of September and October, but that was just temporary.
Other emperors also tried to name months after themselves, but without lasting results. Commodus (if we may believe Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, one of the most disgusting rulers the world has seen) wanted to name all the months after himself: Amazonius, Invictus, Felix, Pius, Lucius, Aelius, Aurelius, Commodus, Augustus, Herculeus, Romanus, Exsuperatorius. This son of the most decent Roman emperor of all (Marcus Aurelius, one of the few good men in that position) was a veritable monster, and it is not surprising that he wanted the whole year for himself.
The Romans also had "Mercedinus" or "Mercedonius", a sort of leap month, which, in certain years, were placed after February. It was the time when wages were paid, and the name of this extra month is derived from Latin "merces", wage - the same root as "mercenary" in English, a soldier who fights for anyone who pays him. The whole thing was abolished by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, during his office as Pontifex Maximus. He then introduced what was to be called the Julian calendar, based on Egyptian calendric principles. (The ancient Egyptian calender will be discussed in part III of this series.)
The Gregorian calendar, which is a reformed Julian, was introduced by the pope Gregory (Gregorius) XIII on 24 February 1582. It was adopted gradually in different countries and is now an almost globally used civil calendar. It is a correction of the Julian calendar, which counted a few minutes too many between vernal equinoxes, a difference adding up to deviation from reality of 10 days in the 16th century.
None of the Orthodox Churches has adopted the Gregorian calendar for religious use. They either use the old Julian calendar or a revised Julian calendar (not the Gregorian). For those using the old Julian calendar, Christmas day is now on Gregorian 7 January.
To be continued...
Related articles:
Zodiac, Month, Year: Some Scientific Elementa
About Zodiacs & Astrology (Egyptian, Babylonian, Indian, Chinese)
The Dog Star & The Dog Days, about Sirius & the Old Egyptian Calendar.
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(Lead image: Statue of Julius Caesar. Photo by IlonaF/Pixabay, CC0/Public Domain.)
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Hi, my friend
I enjoyed and learned something new about calendars from the hand of your didactic prose as usual.
This series promises, not only entertainment but also a mouthful to gain perspective on something that we assume trivially but is not. A mixture of history, knowledge, belief that accompanies us every day, week, month, and year.