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This position for the intercalary day explains why leap years are sometimes referred to as "bissextile years". The 24th day was "ante diem sextum Kalendas Martias", the sixth day before the Kalends of March. The intercalary day was a second sixth day, or "ante diem bis sextum Kalendas Martias". By extension, years with the intercalary day became years with two sixes, or bissextile. |
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9.1.3.4
General Structure of the Julian Year |
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The resulting calendar, which became known as the Julian calendar, then, has the following structure in common years: |
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| Name of Month | | | | Ianuarius mensis | | | | Februarius mensis | | | | Martius mensis | | | | Aprilis mensis | | | | Maius mensis | | | | Iunius mensis | | | | Quintilis mensis | | | | Sextilis mensis | | | | September mensis | | | | October mensis | | | | November mensis | | | | December mensis | | | | Total | | |
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9.1.3.5
Complete Julian Calendar |
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The Julian calendar, as Julius decreed it, has the complete form shown in Table 9.2. |
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9.1.3.6
Two Julian Questions |
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The actions taken, or not taken, with regard to the Julian calendar raise two questions. |
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9.1.3.6.1
What Did Sosigenes Know? |
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It has often been assumed that the Julian calendar is too long in its estimate of the length of the year because Sosigenes was simply ignorant of the true length of the year. A more careful examination of the historical evidence suggests other explanations. |
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