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The days in the civil month were counted forward during the first two decades and then counted backwards during the last decade, in anticipation of the waning of the moon. The names given, according to Mommsen's Chronologie (p. 80116), are listed in Table 9.31. |
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The question of whether the days in the last decade were counted forward or backward was debated in the literature for several years and seems to have been resolved only after Meritt presented a formal proof for backward counting in 1935 (Meritt, Hesperia, IV, pp. 529ff). |
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Years were intercalary (leap years) or ordinary (common) and probably adhered to the general rule for lunisolar calendars, that common years contained 354 days plus or minus one day, while leap years contained 384 days plus or minus one day. |
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Evidence indicates that intercalary months did not have a fixed place in the calendar, but could appear after any month, and were given the name of a second month by the name of the preceding month. That is, a month intercalated after the month of Boedromion would be named, and considered, a second Boedromion. |
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Dates in this calendar are given by the name of the month and the number of the day within the month. An intercalary day inserted after a given day N is designated as a second such day N, and the day before the intercalated day is designated as the first such day N. |
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A typical date might read Mounykionos henei kai neai embolimoi, to mean an intercalary day after the end of the month of Mounichion. The word embolismic, meaning intercalary, is derived from this convention. Similarly, the date Skirophorinos henei kai neai proterai means the regular day at the end of the month of Skirophorion, which is followed, in this case, by an intercalary day also in the same month. The word proterai indicates that the day is the first such day and is followed by another. |
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This designation often helps to establish the number of days in a month. Researchers conclude, for example, that Prytany XII of the year 304/3 B.C. contained 30 days, because the 29th day of that prytany is equated with Skirophorinos henei kai neai proterai, indicating that another (embolismic) day followed. |
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At this point in the discussion, a major point must be resolved. Some authorities have assumed, for the purposes of reconstructing the Attic calendar, that the Metonic rule was strictly applied and that the civil calendar was rigidly constructed of alternating full and hollow months. This system is comforting in its certainty and allows the reconstruction of an Athenian calendar, but it is almost certainly wrong for several reasons: |
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1.) Dinsmoor's list (The Athenian Archon List in the Light of Recent Discoveries, p. 249) of intercalary and ordinary years shows very clearly that years were not intercalated according to any regular scheme, such as that found in the Seleucid calendar. Without a regular rule for intercalation, the most that could be argued is that the authorities were concerned to intercalate, on average, seven years in every 19, by the Metonic rule. Although it is very likely that the Metonic rule was used as a kind of check, there is no evidence whatsoever that the Athenian authorities felt obliged to realign the lunar and solar periods at the end of every 19 years. |
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