Gods, emperors and numbers that don’t match: Where does the name of the 12 months of the year come from?

It said in Latin Januaryius and its name comes from Janus, the Roman god of beginnings or doors. This deity was also considered the god of the end, so he was depicted with two faces, each looking into the past and into the future.

Different than in January February It was not named after a god, but rather referred to the Roman festival of February.

This festival has since been celebrated as a ritual of purification or atonement February In Latin it means “to cleanse”. It took place at the end of the Roman year, so this month was also the last.

In the early Roman calendar, March was the beginning of the year and was referred to as “March.” Martiusin honor of Mars, the god of war.

For the Romans, the beginning of the year was not in the middle of the northern winter, as it is today, but in spring.

It was the right time to reactivate agriculture and military campaigns.

In fact, it has long been customary in various cultures to start the year with spring. The United Kingdom, for example, celebrated the New Year this month until the Gregorian calendar was introduced in 1752.

Regarding April, there are different theories about the origin of his name.

One refers to a Latin verb, aperireor open, possibly to mark the flourishing of agriculture.

But another hypothesis relates it to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love.

This month was Maiusdedicated to the goddess of fertility and spring, Maia. This deity was also the mother of the god Mercury.

However, some point out that the name may have originated as a reference to the olderi.e. older people in Roman culture.

The origin of June, or Junius In the Roman calendar it was an allusion to Juno, queen of the Roman gods and wife of Jupiter.

As such, this goddess was also considered the protector of motherhood and marriage.

But the origin of the name is also controversial, as it could also be dedicated to that Juniorsthat is, young people, something that would be compatible with it Maius.

This month was not originally mentioned Juliusthe Latin word for the name Julius, but was mentioned Quintilis because in the original Roman calendar it was the fifth month of the year (Quintus means fifth)

In this month the leader Julius Caesar was born, and after his death in 44 BC. In the 4th century BC the Romans changed the name to Julius in his honor.

Under his rule, the first major reform of the 365-day calendar was introduced, making January the start of the year (and February the second).

For centuries, the Julian calendar was the one that governed the domains of this conquering civilization.

Similar to July, the month Augustusor August, was originally the sextus (sixth) month of the year and for this reason it was referred to as Sextilis.

It was 8 B.C. Renamed in honor of Caesar Augustus, the first emperor of Rome (27 BC – 14 AD).

According to the numerical order that the months had in the original calendar, Septemberor September, was named for its position.

It was the seventh month and the Romans named it after the Latin word Septemberor seven.

The Latin name October Octobercame from the word Octwhich means eight.

Like the previous one, it was not dedicated to a god or an emperor, but merely to the eighth place he occupied in the year.

The story of the month of November, or Novemberis no different: it also had its origins in the word Novor nine, due to its place in the original Roman calendar.

Finally there was December, the tenth month of the year for the Romans, which they referred to as December for the Latin word Decwhich means ten.

As the reform of Pope Gregory

Since then, the Gregorian calendar has been used in large parts of the world.

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