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both November and December 31 days. Augustus decreed that Sextilis should be renamed in his honor, and removed a day from Februarius so that his month should not be shorter than Julius. This done, he then transposed the 30- and 31-day lengths of the months from September through November. |
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Every bit of this story is fiction. It seems to have been hallowed in the article on Calendars in late 19th century editions of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, although its origin may date to 13th century sources. The reader may encounter this nonsense in various sources. It was accepted as gospel and widely propagated by the calendar reform literature of the early 20th century, for example, where the "arrogance of Roman emperors" and "arbitrary months" were favored whipping boys for the anti-Gregorian polemicists. |
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9.1.3.11
Roman Year Numbers |
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The Romans used a mixed scheme for accounting years. Years were reckoned ab urbe condita (A.U.C.), or "from the founding of the city", which was traditionally dated in the year 753 B.C. During the years of the Republic, years were also identified by consulships, which were annual, and therefore unambiguous. During the period of the Empire, the consulship became an honorary office with an irregular tenure, and thus useless for calendric purposes. Years were then identified by various titles conferred by the Emperor. |
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In this section, I look at the history of the Gregorian calendar, examine the essential calculations and problems involved in the Gregorian reform, and consider the very involved historical process of its adoption. |
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The single essential defect in the Julian calendar is its overestimation of the length of the tropical year by a period of approximately 11 minutes and 14 seconds. This error amounts to the equivalent of one day in about 128 years. |
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This gradual accumulation of small error is the sort of issue that historically has been handled by decree by competent authorities. In the very peculiar case of the Julian calendar, however, there is a calendar, used over the very large area of the former Roman Empire, for which no central competent authority was recognized following the collapse of the Empire. |
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Medieval society inherited, in effect, a tool that required proper periodic maintenance but lacked both the technical knowledge and the political organization to do so. |
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