December (from Latin ''decem'', "ten") or ''mensis December'' was originally the tenth month of the

Roman calendar The Roman calendar was the calendar used by the Roman Kingdom and Roman Republic. Although the term is primarily used for Rome's pre-Julian calendars, it is often used inclusively of the Julian calendar established by Julius Caesar in 46&nbs ...

, following

November November is the eleventh and penultimate month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 30 days. November was the ninth month of the calendar of Romulus . November retained its name (from the Latin ''novem'' meaning " ...

(''novem'', "nine") and preceding

Ianuarius , ("January"), or in full , abbreviated , was the first month of the Roman calendar, ancient Roman calendar, from which the Julian calendar, Julian and Gregorian calendar, Gregorian month of January derived. It was followed by ''Februarius'' (" ...

. It had 29 days. When the calendar was reformed to create a 12-month year starting in Ianuarius, December became the twelfth month, but retained its name, as did the other numbered months from Quintilis (July) to December. Its length was increased to 31 days under the Julian calendar reform.

Dates

The Romans did not number days of a month sequentially from the first day through the last. Instead, they counted back from the three fixed points of the month: the Nones (5th or 7th), the Ides (13th or 15th), and the

Kalends The calends or kalends () is the first day of every month in the Roman calendar. The English word "calendar" is derived from this word. Use The Romans called the first day of every month the ''calends'', signifying the start of a new lunar pha ...

(1st) of the following month. The Nones of December was the 5th, and the Ides the 13th. The last day of December was the ''pridie Kalendas Ianuarias,'' "day before the Januarian Kalends". Roman counting was inclusive; December 9 was ''ante diem V Idūs Decembrīs'', "the 5th day before the Ides of December," usually abbreviated ''a.d. V Id. Dec.'' (or with the ''a.d.'' omitted altogether); December 24 was ''IX Kal. Ian.'', "the 9th day before the Kalends of Ianuarius," on the Julian calendar ''(VII Kal. Ian.'' on the pre-Julian calendar, when December had only 29 days). On the calendar of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

and early

Principate The Principate was the form of imperial government of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the Dominate. The principate was ch ...

, each day was marked with a letter to denote its religiously lawful status. Each day was marked with a letter such as: * F for '' dies fasti'', days when it was legal to initiate action in the courts of civil law. * C, for ''dies comitalis,'' a day on which the Roman people could hold assemblies ''(

comitia The Roman assemblies were meetings of the Roman people duly convened by a magistrate. There were two general kinds of assemblies: a '' contio'' where a crowd was convened to hear speeches or statements from speakers without any further arrangem ...

)'', elections, and certain kinds of judicial proceedings. * N for ''

dies nefasti The Roman calendar was the calendar used by the Roman Kingdom and Roman Republic. Although the term is primarily used for Rome's pre-Julian calendars, it is often used inclusively of the Julian calendar established by Julius Caesar in 46&nbs ...

'', when these political activities and the administration of justice were prohibited. * NP, the meaning of which remains elusive, but which marked '' feriae'', public holidays. * EN for ''endotercissus'', an archaic form of ''intercissus'', "cut in half," meaning days that were ''nefasti'' in the morning, when

sacrifices Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks ...

were being prepared, and in the evening, while sacrifices were being offered, but were ''fasti'' in the middle of the day. By the late 2nd century AD, extant calendars no longer showed days marked with these letters, probably in part as a result of calendar reforms undertaken by

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...

. Days were also marked with nundinal letters in cycles of ''A B C D E F G H'', to mark the "market week".

Jörg Rüpke Jörg Rüpke (born 27 December 1962 in Herford, West Germany) is a German scholar of comparative religion and classical philology, recipient of the Gay-Lussac Humboldt Prize in 2008, and of the Advanced Grant of the European Research Council in ...

, ''The Roman Calendar from Numa to Constantine: Time, History, and the Fasti,'' translated by David M.B. Richardson (Blackwell, 2011, originally published 1995 in German), p. 6.

References

{{Roman months Months of the Roman calendar Roman calendar

Dates

See also

References