ONE DICTATOR, ONE EMPEROR, LYING NUMBERS
Why do you live by the calendar of a dead dictator and a dead emperor?
July is Julius Caesar. August is Augustus. The rest hide two gods, a purification rite, three disputed etymologies and four lying numbers: September means “seventh”, but it is ninth.
In short: Rome named its months after gods and men, then moved the start of the year from March to January without renumbering the months. The numbers stayed stuck in the wrong seats — and that is why you live, today, by the calendar of a dead dictator and a dead emperor: Caesar was a dictator, and Augustus refused the dictatorship when it was offered.
- VII IN SEAT 9
- September counts from March, not January
- 445 DAYS
- the year 46 BC lasted, to catch up with the sun
- 12 OF 12
- months Commodus renamed; none survived
Your year, in Latin:
- January IANVARIVS
- February FEBRVARIUS
- March MARTIVS
- April APRILIS
- May MAIVS
- June IVNIVS
- July IVLIVS ← QVINTILIS
- August AVGVSTVS ← SEXTILIS
- September SEPTEMBER · VII
- October OCTOBER · VIII
- November NOVEMBER · IX
- December DECEMBER · X
The answer at a glance
Twelve months, twelve origins
The whole page, in brief: every month with its Latin name, its origin and the seat it sits in today. Every month links to its story.
January
Ianuarius
GOD
seat 1
February
Februarius
RITE
seat 2
March
Martius
GOD
seat 3
April
Aprilis
DISPUTED
seat 4
May
Maius
DISPUTED
seat 5
June
Iunius
DISPUTED
seat 6
July
Iulius ← Quintilis
MAN · DICTATOR
seat 7
August
Augustus ← Sextilis
MAN · EMPEROR
seat 8
September
September
NUMBER · VII
seat 9
October
October
NUMBER · VIII
seat 10
November
November
NUMBER · IX
seat 11
December
December
NUMBER · X
seat 12
July and August are the only months named after men — one dictator and one emperor. The rest: two gods, three disputes, four numbers and a rite.
Three old months
The gods and the rite
Three months tell their story without dispute: a two-faced god, a war god and a purification rite.
January ← Janus
The god of doors and beginnings, with two faces: one toward the coming year, one toward the leaving one. The coin below shows both faces at a glance.
March ← Mars
The war god. The year began in March, when war resumed after winter — which is why the months are still numbered from there.
February ← februa
February comes from a rite: the februa, the instruments of purification around the middle of the month, near the Lupercalia of 15 February. Ovid writes it plainly: “Februa Romani dixere piamina patres”. A minority theory invokes a god Februus; Ovid and Censorinus side with the rite.
Three uncertain etymologies
The three disputed months
For April, Ovid mentions both explanations and chooses: Venus. For May and June he puts several versions in the mouths of Muses and goddesses and refuses to judge. This page does not choose for him.
April
DISPUTEDFirst theory
Aphrodite — Ovid's choice (Fasti, book 4): the month of the goddess born from sea foam.
Second theory
aperire, “to open” — Varro, quoted by Censorinus: the month when the earth opens.
May
DISPUTEDFirst theory
Maia — the mother of Mercury.
Second theory
maiores, “the elders” — Ovid, Fasti 6.88: the month of the old, mirroring June, the month of the young.
June
DISPUTEDFirst theory
Juno — the queen of the gods.
Second theory
iuniores, “the young” — the pair of maiores from the same book of the Fasti.
None of the three has a winner. Ovid also proposes, in passing, maiestas for May and iunctus (“the joining”) for June.
Two renamed months
One dictator, one emperor
Quintilis and Sextilis — “fifth” and “sixth” — lost their numbers to two men. Caesar was a dictator; Augustus, an emperor — he refused the dictatorship offered in 22 BC, by his own account.
July
Quintilis → Julius, 44 BC
Quintilis became Julius by the law of the consul Mark Antony — voted before the Ides of March, enacted after Caesar's murder. It was the month of his birth, the twelfth day. The renaming took effect a year after the calendar reform that carries his name.
August
Sextilis → Augustus, 8 BC
Sextilis became Augustus by decree of the senate: too many of Augustus's victories fell in this month — the first consulship, the triple triumph, the fall of Alexandria. The decree survives in Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.12 — beside the plebiscite of the tribune Sextus Pacuvius, moved for the same reason.
The renaming of August came 37 years after the month had received 31 days. The order matters: it proves the February-theft legend false.
The renames that did not stick
The graveyard of renames
Other emperors tried the same trick. No name outlived the man who imposed it.
Caligula, AD 37
- September → Germanicus
Nero, AD 65
- April → Neroneus
- May → Claudius
- June → Germanicus
A denarius with Nero, author of three renames at once. Photo: Royal Institution of Cornwall, Anna Tyacke, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 Domitian, AD 84
- September → Germanicus
- October → Domitianus
Six imperial renames, plus twelve by Commodus. Survival score: zero.
Four numbers in the wrong seats
The lying numbers
September comes from septem, seven. It is ninth. This is no counting error: the year began in March, and when January and February moved to the front, nobody renumbered the months.
| September | septem, seven | VII | 7 → 9 |
| October | octo, eight | VIII | 8 → 10 |
| November | novem, nine | IX | 9 → 11 |
| December | decem, ten | X | 10 → 12 |
The -mbrie forms are learned 19th-century reworkings after Latin — the DER etymological dictionary traces the route for September and December. The old forms, like septemvrie and decemvrie, had come through Byzantine Greek and Slavonic; they sound old today, not wrong.
The Year Machine
Pick a year and watch the months rearrange: names, lengths, positions. The Roman numeral is the month's name; the Arabic digit is the seat it sits in.
All nine years, in brief
| Month | Days | № | seat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Martius | 31 | — | 1 |
| Aprilis | 30 | — | 2 |
| Maius | 31 | — | 3 |
| Iunius | 30 | — | 4 |
| Quintilis | 31 | — | 5 |
| Sextilis | 30 | — | 6 |
| September | 30 | VII | 7 |
| October | 31 | VIII | 8 |
| November | 30 | IX | 9 |
| December | 30 | X | 10 |
Total: 304 days. Ten months, 304 days, the year starts in March. September is seventh for real — the numbers tell the truth, for now.
| Month | Days | № | seat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Martius | 31 | — | 1 |
| Aprilis | 29 | — | 2 |
| Maius | 31 | — | 3 |
| Iunius | 29 | — | 4 |
| Quintilis | 31 | — | 5 |
| Sextilis | 29 | — | 6 |
| September | 29 | VII | 7 |
| October | 31 | VIII | 8 |
| November | 29 | IX | 9 |
| December | 29 | X | 10 |
| Ianuarius | 29 | — | 11 |
| Februarius | 28 | — | 12 |
Total: 355 days. Tradition credits Numa with two new months, January and February, placed last. September stays seventh — for now.
| Month | Days | № | seat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ianuarius | 29 | — | 1 |
| Februarius | 28 | — | 2 |
| Martius | 31 | — | 3 |
| Aprilis | 29 | — | 4 |
| Maius | 31 | — | 5 |
| Iunius | 29 | — | 6 |
| Quintilis | 31 | — | 7 |
| Sextilis | 29 | — | 8 |
| September | 29 | VII | 9 |
| October | 31 | VIII | 10 |
| November | 29 | IX | 11 |
| December | 29 | X | 12 |
Total: 355 days. The consuls take office on 1 January, because of the war in Spain. The months are not renumbered: September slides into seat nine and never comes back.
| Month | Days | № | seat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ianuarius | 29 | — | 1 |
| Februarius | 28 | — | 2 |
| Martius | 31 | — | 3 |
| Aprilis | 29 | — | 4 |
| Maius | 31 | — | 5 |
| Iunius | 29 | — | 6 |
| Quintilis | 31 | — | 7 |
| Sextilis | 29 | — | 8 |
| September | 29 | VII | 9 |
| October | 31 | VIII | 10 |
| November | 29 | IX | 11 |
| December | 29 | X | 12 |
| Mercedonius extra month | 23 | — | — |
| Intercalaris I extra month | part of 67 days | — | — |
| Intercalaris II extra month | part of 67 days | — | — |
Total: 445 days. 355 + 23 + 67 = 445: one month in February and two extra months between November and December, of unknown individual lengths. Censorinus gives 445, Macrobius 443.
| Month | Days | № | seat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ianuarius | 31 | — | 1 |
| Februarius | 28 | — | 2 |
| Martius | 31 | — | 3 |
| Aprilis | 30 | — | 4 |
| Maius | 31 | — | 5 |
| Iunius | 30 | — | 6 |
| Quintilis | 31 | — | 7 |
| Sextilis | 31 | — | 8 |
| September | 30 | VII | 9 |
| October | 31 | VIII | 10 |
| November | 30 | IX | 11 |
| December | 31 | X | 12 |
Total: 365 days. From 1 January 45 BC: February 28, August 31 — the lengths you know. The names still old: Quintilis, Sextilis.
| Month | Days | № | seat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ianuarius | 31 | — | 1 |
| Februarius | 28 | — | 2 |
| Martius | 31 | — | 3 |
| Aprilis | 30 | — | 4 |
| Maius | 31 | — | 5 |
| Iunius | 30 | — | 6 |
| Iulius | 31 | — | 7 |
| Sextilis | 31 | — | 8 |
| September | 30 | VII | 9 |
| October | 31 | VIII | 10 |
| November | 30 | IX | 11 |
| December | 31 | X | 12 |
Total: 365 days. Quintilis becomes Julius, the month of Caesar's birth. Sextilis keeps its number for 36 more years.
| Month | Days | № | seat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ianuarius | 31 | — | 1 |
| Februarius | 28 | — | 2 |
| Martius | 31 | — | 3 |
| Aprilis | 30 | — | 4 |
| Maius | 31 | — | 5 |
| Iunius | 30 | — | 6 |
| Iulius | 31 | — | 7 |
| Augustus | 31 | — | 8 |
| September | 30 | VII | 9 |
| October | 31 | VIII | 10 |
| November | 30 | IX | 11 |
| December | 31 | X | 12 |
Total: 365 days. Sextilis becomes Augustus, by decree of the senate. The lengths do not move: August had 31 days for 37 years.
| Month | Days | № | seat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazonius | 31 | — | 1 |
| Invictus | 28 | — | 2 |
| Felix | 31 | — | 3 |
| Pius | 30 | — | 4 |
| Lucius | 31 | — | 5 |
| Aelius | 30 | — | 6 |
| Aurelius | 31 | — | 7 |
| Commodus | 31 | — | 8 |
| Augustus | 30 | — | 9 |
| Herculeus | 31 | — | 10 |
| Romanus | 30 | — | 11 |
| Exsuperatorius | 31 | — | 12 |
Total: 365 days. Every month takes Commodus's names, from Amazonius to Exsuperatorius. None outlives him.
| Month | Days | № | seat |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31 | — | 1 |
| February | 28 | — | 2 |
| March | 31 | — | 3 |
| April | 30 | — | 4 |
| May | 31 | — | 5 |
| June | 30 | — | 6 |
| July | 31 | — | 7 |
| August | 31 | — | 8 |
| September | 30 | VII | 9 |
| October | 31 | VIII | 10 |
| November | 30 | IX | 11 |
| December | 31 | X | 12 |
Total: 365 days. Your months, today. VII has sat in seat 9 for over two thousand years.
A 445-day year
The hinge: 46 BC
Before straightening the calendar, Caesar had to pay the old debt: the year 46 BC lasted 445 days, the longest year on record.
- 355
- the ordinary year
- 23
- Mercedonius, in February
- 67
- two months between November and December, of unknown lengths
- 445
- total
The arithmetic comes from Censorinus: 23 days in February and 67 between November and December. Tradition names the reckoners differently: Sosigenes of Alexandria in Pliny, “the best philosophers and mathematicians” in Plutarch, the scribe Marcus Flavius in Macrobius.
On 1 January 45 BC the Julian year began: 365 days, with a leap day every fourth year.
The neighbours who skipped Roman names
The Slavic mirror
Four Slavic neighbours name their months after nature, not gods and emperors: the linden, the sickle, the falling leaves. Except they do not fall in the same month.
| № | Romanian | Polish | Czech | Ukrainian | Croatian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ianuarie | styczeń | leden | січень | siječanj |
| 2 | februarie | luty | únor | лютий | veljača |
| 3 | martie | marzec | březen | березень | ožujak |
| 4 | aprilie | kwiecień | duben | квітень | travanj |
| 5 | mai | maj | květen | травень | svibanj |
| 6 | iunie | czerwiec | červen | червень | lipanj |
| 7 | iulie | lipiec | červenec | липень | srpanj |
| 8 | august | sierpień | srpen | серпень | kolovoz |
| 9 | septembrie | wrzesień | září | вересень | rujan |
| 10 | octombrie | październik | říjen | жовтень | listopad |
| 11 | noiembrie | listopad | listopad | листопад | studeni |
| 12 | decembrie | grudzień | prosinec | грудень | prosinac |
- lipiec is July in Polish, but lipanj is June in Croatian — both from lipa, “linden”.
- listopad is November in Polish, Czech and Ukrainian, but October in Croatian — from the falling leaves.
- sierpień is August in Polish, but srpanj is July in Croatian — from the sickle.
Not every Slavic name comes from nature: Polish marzec and maj keep Latin roots.
And not every Slav: Russian, Bulgarian and Serbian use Latinate names, like Romanian.
Four wrong stories
Myths
Four things heard about the months. Three are false, one is a misunderstanding.
“Augustus stole a day from February.”
False.
The story surfaces in the 13th century, in a computus treatise by Sacrobosco (c. 1235), and has no basis: Censorinus and Macrobius give Sextilis 31 days from Caesar's reform — 37 years before it was called Augustus.
“September was seventh, so the Romans could not count.”
Misunderstanding.
The Romans counted well: their year began in March, and September was seventh indeed. Today's numbers are fossils, not errors.
“All Slavs name their months after nature.”
False.
Only some: the Poles, Czechs, Ukrainians and Croats in the table above. Russians, Bulgarians and Serbs use Latinate names.
“Every month comes from a god.”
False.
Only two for certain — January and March — plus three disputed. The rest: one dictator, one emperor, four numbers and a purification rite.
Five cards
Who named your month?
Five months, five answers. The last card is a trap: the right answer is “nobody knows for sure”.
The right answers show under each question.
1
March
Who named March?
Mars. The year began in March, the month war resumed.
2
February
Who named February?
The februa rite, the instruments of purification at mid-month. The god Februus is a minority theory.
3
August
Who named August?
Augustus, in 8 BC — for the victories in the month of Sextilis, the fall of Alexandria first among them.
4
October
What does October mean?
The eighth from March. “The god Octavius” does not exist; it is a trap.
5
April
Who named April?
Nobody knows for sure: Aphrodite (Ovid) or aperire, “to open” (Varro). Nero only renamed it Neroneus, without success.
Score: 0 of 5
You finished all five cards.
Short questions
Questions
Five short answers, for the hurried reader.
Was Augustus a dictator?
No. Caesar was a dictator; Augustus refused the dictatorship offered in 22 BC. That is why this page says “one dictator, one emperor”.
Why is September not seventh?
The year began in March; from 153 BC the consuls take office on 1 January, but nobody renumbered the months.
Did Augustus steal a day from February?
No. It is a medieval story: Sextilis had 31 days from 45 BC, 37 years before it was called Augustus.
How long was the longest year?
445 days, in 46 BC: 355 ordinary ones, 23 in February and 67 in two extra months.
Why do the Slavic months not match each other?
The same name can sit on neighbouring months: lipiec is July in Polish, lipanj is June in Croatian. Russians, Bulgarians and Serbs use Latinate names.
A jump in 1919
The names stayed, the days jumped: a March 1919 decree deleted 13 days from April — 1 April old style became 14 April new style. The whole story, with a converter and the missing days, lives at calendarul-1919. See calendarul-1919
Sources
The ancients first, then dictionaries and calendars. Every risky claim links to its source.
Ancient sources
- Res Gestae 5: Augustus refuses the dictatorship (Latin)
- Macrobius, Saturnalia 1: the renames and the calendar (Latin)
- Censorinus 20–22: the 445-day year and the month names (Latin)
- Suetonius, Caesar 40: the reform (Latin)
- Suetonius, Caligula 15: September Germanicus (Latin)
- Suetonius, Domitian 13: September and October (Latin)
- Tacitus, Annals 15.74: Nero's April (Latin)
- Tacitus, Annals 16.12: May and June (Latin)
- Livy 1.19: Numa's year (Latin)
- Livy, Periochae 47: consuls from 1 January, since 153 BC (translation)
- Dio Cassius 43–45: the reform and the month Julius (translation)
- Dio Cassius 72.15: Commodus's 12 months (Greek)
- Plutarch, Numa 18: Mercedonius (translation)
- Plutarch, Caesar 59: the reform (translation)
- Pliny, Natural History 18.57: Sosigenes (translation)
- Ovid, Fasti 1: the 10 months of Romulus (Kline transl.)
- Ovid, Fasti 2: the februa (Kline transl.)
- Ovid, Fasti 3: March first, the magistracies (Kline transl.)
- Ovid, Fasti 4: the April theories (Kline transl.)
- Ovid, Fasti 5: the May theories (Kline transl.)
- Ovid, Fasti 6: the June theories (Kline transl.)
- Historia Augusta, Commodus: the five months named explicitly (translation)
Dictionaries, tables and studies
- ianuarie (DEX, Romanian)
- septembrie (DEX + DER, Romanian)
- octombrie (DEX, Romanian)
- noiembrie (DEX, Romanian)
- decembrie (DEX + DER, Romanian)
- 46 BC: the 445-day consensus (EN-wiki)
- The Roman calendar: origins and intercalary months (EN-wiki)
- The early Roman calendar: legend and evolution (WebExhibits)
- The Tyndale tables: the unknown lengths of the two months
- Sacrobosco and calendar reform, Cambridge
- Sacrobosco: bibliography, with Moreton 1994
- Fasti Antiates Maiores: the painted calendar (EN-wiki)
- The year 153 BC: the source dossier (Attalus)
The Slavic months
- The Polish month list (PL-wiki)
- The Czech month list (CS-wiki)
- The Ukrainian month list (UK-wiki)
- The Croatian month list (HR-wiki)
- The Slavic calendar: the comparison table (EN-wiki)
- Lipiec: the linden (PL-wiki)
- Sierpień: the sickle (PL-wiki)
- Listopad: the leaves (PL-wiki)
- Marzec: the month of Mars (PL-wiki)
- Maj: the month of Maia (PL-wiki)
- Lipanj: the linden (HR-wiki)
- Srpanj: the sickle (HR-wiki)
- Listopad: the leaves (HR-wiki)
- Listopad: the leaves (CS-wiki)
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