The Roman Calendar
The Gregorian calendar, the one commonly used today, was based on the Roman calendar, the one they used in Ancient Rome from circa 756-46 BC (TimeandDate.com, 2016). The calendar was used to know the date and to calculate when market days and special occasions were going to occur. Calendars were usually displayed in public areas so that anyone could see what day it was and what events were coming up. The year began in March and ended in December and consisted of ten months, six had thirty days and four had thirty-one days. A total of 304 days. After December there was what seems to be an uncounted winter gap which was filled by Numa Pompilius, the second King of Rome, in circa 715-673 BC by adding the months January and February (TimeandDate.com, 2016). The calendar was important for the Romans because they needed it to know when things were going to happen.
They have found they remains of an ancient Roman calendar, the Fasti Praenestini. It is named after the town just east of Rome, where the calendar had been set up in the forum. Inscribed on marble and annotated by the grammarian Verrius Flaccus. The surviving fragments of the Fasti Praenestini were discovered in the eighteenth century and acquired by the bishop of Palestrina, who displayed them in his family home in Rome until 1902, when they were transferred to the Museo Nazionale Romano. The Fasti Praeestini now are in the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, the national museum of Rome. A number of fragments survive, allowing partial reconstruction of the months of January, March, April, and December. (penelope.uchicago.com, 2016)
The Roman Calendar has been changed a lot over time. It was first invented in circa 756 BC by Romulus, the first king of Rome. (TimeandDate.com, 2016). The calendar was then changed by Julius Caesar in circa 46 BC. (wikipedia.org, 2016). Pope Gregory was the last person who majorly changed the calendar, when in 1582 he introduced the Gregorian calendar, the calendar we use today, after establishing that the Julian calendar was almost 10 days out of date. In this year (1582) October had 21 days to make up for the ten extra days. (wikipedia.org, 2016).
Kate Williams