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Page 233 2.) Promulgation of new rules, which have the intended effect of preventing the problem from recurring. Julius Caesar consulted with Sosigenes, a Greek astronomer from Alexandria, and in 46 B.C. decreed that beginning in 45 B.C. the calendar year should have, in effect, a length of 365.25 days. 9.1.3.2.1 The Year of Confusion The first part of the reform, the one-time correction, was messy. The year 46 B.C. justifiably was called the "year of confusion", since it consisted of some 445 days. According to Censorinus, Julius added a standard Intercalaris after the 24th day of Februarius and then added an unprecedented two additional intercalary months between November and December, which jointly contained 67 days. The names of these months, if any, are not known. Thus, the year 46 B.C. was structured as follows: Month Number of Days Total Days in Year Ianuarius 29 29 Februarius 24 53 Intercalaris 27 80 Martius 31 111 Aprilis 29 140 Maius 31 171 Iunius 29 200 Quintilis 31 231 Sextilis 29 260 September 29 289 October 31 320 November 29 349 Intercalaris II n 349 + n Intercalaris III (67 n) 416 December 29 445 9.1.3.2.2 New Rules The second part of the reform, the new rules, consisted in changes to the lengths of several months and the intercalation rule, which is called the Julian leap year rule: namely, one intercalary day should be inserted every four years. Julius chose to insert the day exactly in the position of the old intercalary month of Intercalaris; that is, after the 24th day of Februarius.
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