In the ancient

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 ...

, Quintilis or Quinctilis was the month following Junius (June) and preceding

Sextilis Sextilis () or ''mensis Sextilis'' was the Latin name for what was originally the sixth month in the Roman calendar The Roman calendar was the calendar used by the Roman Kingdom and Roman Republic. Although the term is primarily used for ...

(August). ''Quintilis'' is

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "fifth": it was the fifth month (''quintilis mensis'') in the earliest calendar attributed to

Romulus Romulus (, ) was the legendary founder and first king of Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Rome's oldest legal, political, religious, and social institutions to Romulus and his contemporaries. Although many of th ...

, which began with Martius (" Mars' month," March) and had 10 months. After the calendar reform that produced a 12-month year, Quintilis became the seventh month, but retained its name. In 45 BC,

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

instituted a new calendar (the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...

) that corrected astronomical discrepancies in the old. After his death in 44 BC, the month of Quintilis, his birth month, was renamed ''Julius'' in his honor, hence July."Los Cielos de Agosto" (Spanish: "The Skies of August"), Jorge R. Ianiszewski, ''Circulo Astronomico'', 2006, webpage
CirA-Agosto
Quintilis was under the guardianship ''( tutela)'' of the Romans' supreme deity

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

, with sacrifices made particularly to

Neptune Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...

and

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

. Agricultural

festivals A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

directed at the harvest gradually lost their importance, and the month became dominated in urban Imperial Rome by the

Ludi Apollinares The ''Ludi Apollinares'' were solemn games (''ludi'') held annually by the ancient Romans in honor of the god Apollo. The tradition goes that at the first celebration hereof, they were suddenly invaded by the enemy, and obliged to take to their ar ...

, games ''(

ludi ''Ludi'' (Latin:games; plural of "ludus") were public games held for the benefit and entertainment of the Roman people (''populus Romanus''). ''Ludi'' were held in conjunction with, or sometimes as the major feature of, Roman religious festiv ...

)'' in honor of Apollo. Ten days of games were celebrated in honor of Julius Caesar at the end of the month.

Dates

Like the modern month of

July July is the seventh month of the year in the Julian calendar, Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. It was named by the Roman Senate in honour of Roman general Julius Caesar in 44 B.C., being the month of his birth. Before the ...

, this was one of the "long" months that had 31 days. The Romans did not number days of a month sequentially from the 1st through the last day. Instead, they counted back from the three fixed points of the month: the Nones (''Nonae,'' 5th or 7th, depending on the length of the month), the Ides (''Idūs,'' 13th or 15th), and the Kalends (''Kalendae,'' 1st) of the following month. Thus, the last day of Quintilis was the ''pridie Kalendas Sextilis'', "day before the Kalends of

" (August). Roman counting was inclusive; July 5 was ''ante diem III Nonas Quintilis'', "the 3rd day before the Nones (7th) of Quintilis," usually abbreviated ''a.d. III Non. Quint.'' (or with the ''a.d.'' omitted altogether); July 23 was ''X. Kal. Sext.'', "the 10th day before the Kalends of Sextilis."

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)'', elections, and certain kinds of judicial proceedings; N for '' dies nefasti'', when these political activities and the administration of justice were prohibited; or NP, the meaning of which remains elusive, but which marked '' feriae'', public holidays. Days were also marked with nundinal letters in cycles of ''A B C D E F G H'', to mark the "market week" A '' dies natalis'' was an anniversary such as a temple founding or rededication, sometimes thought of as the "birthday" of a deity. On a '' dies religiosus'', individuals were not to undertake any new activity, nor do anything other than tend to the most basic necessities. During the Imperial period, some of the traditional festivals localized at Rome became less important, and the birthdays and anniversaries of the emperor and his family gained prominence as Roman holidays. On the calendar of military religious observances known as the '' Feriale Duranum'', sacrifices pertaining to

Imperial cult An imperial cult is a form of state religion in which an emperor or a dynasty of emperors (or rulers of another title) are worshipped as demigods or deities. "Cult (religious practice), Cult" here is used to mean "worship", not in the modern pejor ...

outnumber the older festivals. After the latter 1st century AD, a number of dates are added to calendars for spectacles and games ''(

)'' held in honor of various deities in the venue called a "

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

" ''(ludi circenses)''. By the late 2nd century AD, extant calendars no longer show days marked with letters ''(F, N, C'' and so on) to show their religious status, 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 ...

.Salzman, ''On Roman Time'', p. 17. Unless otherwise noted, the dating and observances on the following table are from H.H. Scullard, ''Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic'' (Cornell University Press, 1981), pp. 158–169.

Notes

{{Roman months July Months of the Roman calendar

Dates

See also

Notes