Per Abrahamsen <abraham@dina.kvl.dk> wrote:
> Men hvorfor sluttede det det? Det ville være mere logisk hvis det
> slutte med februar. Så havde september, oktober, november og december
> haft navne der passede til deres numre.
I Rom var den sidste måned december {den tiende måned}, og den første
var opkaldt efter krigsguden Mars: marts.
Januar og februar opfattedes slet ikke som måneder. Men det ændrede sig
naturligvis med tiden.
Encyclopædia Britannica 2005 on DVD:
Roman republican calendar
dating system that evolved in Rome prior to the Christian era. According
to legend, Romulus, the founder of Rome, instituted the calendar in
about 738 BC. This dating system, however, was probablya product of
evolution from the Greek lunar calendar, which in turn was derived from
the Babylonian. The original Roman calendar appears to have consisted
only of 10 months and of a year of 304 days. The remaining 61 1/4 days
were apparently ignored, resulting in a gap during the winter season.
The months bore the names Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Juniius, Quintilis,
Sextilis, September, October, November, and December - the last six
names correspond to the Latinwords for the numbers 5 through 10. The
Roman ruler Numa Pompilius is credited with adding January at the
beginning and February at the end of the calendar to create the 12-month
year. In 452 BC, February was moved between January and March.
By the 1st century BC, the Roman calendar had become hopelessly
confused. The year, based on cycles and phases of the moon, totaled 355
days, about 10 1/4 days shorter thanthe solar year. The occasional
intercalation of an extra month of 27 or 28 days, called Mercedonius,
kept the calendar in step with the seasons. The confusion was
compoundedby political maneuvers. The Pontifex Maximus and the College
of Pontiffs had the authority to alter the calendar, and they sometimes
did so to reduce or extend the term of a particular magistrate or other
public official. Finally, in 46 BC, Julius Caesar initiated a thorough
reform that resulted in the establishment of a new dating system, the
Julian calendar (q.v.).
> Er det fordi Julle og Augustus absolut skulle møve sig ind i kalenderen?
Quintilis omdøbtes til julius, og sextilis til Augustus. Da Senatet
foreslog af september omdøbtes til tiberius, ville kejser Tiberius ikke
være med: hvad ville man gøre med den 13. kejser?
Ellers ville vi vist have haft månedsnavnene:
september -> tiber.
oktober -> caligula?
november -> claudius.
december -> nero?
nerva.
trajan.
hadrian.
marcus? aurelius?
Januar var dog opkaldt efter guden Janus, februar efter Februa-festen
den 15. februar, april efter gudinden Venus {græsk: Aphrodite}, maj
efter gudinden Maia, juni efter guden Juno. Mon de havde udskiftet de
gamle gudenavne for kejserens skyld?
Mon Caligula og Nero havde fået lov at beholde deres måneder? Senatet
ophævede som bekendt efter deres død deres gudestatus.
Og mon de tidlige kristne havde kunnet acceptere at fejre Jesu
fødselsdag den 25. nero? Efter kejseren der startede
kristenforfølgelserne.
--
Per Erik Rønne