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9.1.2.2
Evidence for a Lunar Calendar |
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There is convincing evidence that the Republican calendar was lunar and instituted by the decemviri around the year 450 B.C. based on several grounds. |
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9.1.2.2.1
Evidence from Macrobius |
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Macrobius states that the Kalends was originally fixed by observation of the first visible crescent moon, and that the Ides was the day of the full moon. This information is, moreover, consistent with our knowledge of other calendars, like the Greek and the Jewish, which originate at roughly the same time in the areas of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. |
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9.1.2.2.2
Count down Schemes |
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As you will see later in our study of the Greek Attic calendar, a count-down scheme, especially one at the end of the month, is a very strong indication that the month was, at least originally, determined by observation and not by calculation. |
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9.1.2.2.3
Internal Structure of the Month |
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The internal structure of the month and its nomenclature supports the idea that the beginning of the month was originally observed and declared by the priests, and that the full moon was also observed and marked. |
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Within each month, three days were designated as named markers. The first day of the month was the Kalends. In the short Republican months, the Nones was the fifth day, the seventh day in the long months of 31 days. The Ides was the 13th day in short months, the 15th day in the long months of Martius, Maius, Quintilis, and October. |
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The word Kalendae is believed to originate from an archaic verb kalare, meaning to proclaim. On the Kalends, the people assembled to hear the rex sacrorum proclaim the number of days remaining until the Nones. The word Nonae has its origin in the number nine; it is the ninth day in the inclusive Roman method of counting. The term Idus has been variously ascribed to the Etruscan Itus, or the Etruscan verb iduare, meaning "to divide." The Ides do, in fact, divide a 30-day month, always occurring 16 days before the last day of the month. |
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The term Kalends not only gave birth to our word calendar but also found its way into popular humor. A jocular Roman phrase, ad Graecas kalendas, meant "on the Greek calends," which is to say, never, since the Greeks did not observe the Roman kalends. |
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