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Welcome to the tenth month of the year! What, the tenth month?
Have you ever wondered why December is sometimes referred to as the tenth month, while in our understanding it is the last of twelve? Let’s dig into history and solve this riddle. Its name is derived from the Latin word “decem” which means tenth. A similar pattern is true for the months of September, October and November (septem, octo, novem).
However, did you know that the months have fascinating origins and come from a mixture of Greek and Roman deities and Roman rulers?
In ancient Rome, the new year didn’t always begin in January as it does today. The Roman calendar initially had a 304-day year starting in March (Martius), which was named after the god Mars and traditionally military campaigns commenced at this time. Since March was the first official month of the year, followed by April and May, the remaining months were numbered from five to ten.
The year then continued until Decembris which was the harvest time in Rome with mild weather. Saturnalia, a festival honoring god Saturn began on Dec. 17 and was originally a one-day celebration. It then expanded to a week-long event lasting until Dec. 24. The festival was marked by unique customs and traditions, for example with public sacrifices and banquets.
Social norms also temporarily overturned during the festival in which slaves gained temporary freedom and masters would serve them at the table. Overall, it became a time of equality and liberty. People also exchanged gifts and gambling, normally prohibited, was permitted during this time. The festival was filled with feasting, singing, music and lots of fun.
After the end of Saturnalia, the year was basically over, and Romans must have considered the winter months, meaning the remaining 61 days, as being less important and simply didn’t give them any names.
In the year 46 before Christ, Emperor Julius Caeser sought advice from astronomers and mathematicians to create a new calendar based on the sun, rather than on a lunar system. He brought about a reform and the result was the Julian calendar in which the civil, but not spiritual, year officially began on Jan 1.
As a result, the two missing months had to be named and were chosen as follows:
January (Januarius) was named after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and transitions. February (Februa) is derived from an ancient festival dedicated to ritual springtime cleaning and washing.
The other months mainly kept their names, April (Aprilius) stems from “aperio” meaning to open and reflecting the buds of spring. May (Maius) is named after Maia, the Greek goddess of fields, while June (Junius) was dedicated to Juno, the goddess of light and childbirth.
Julius then chose to name the next month July (Julius) after himself and August (Augustus) after his favorite great-nephew, who became emperor and is also linked to founding the city of Trier (Augusta Treverorum) at an initially Celtic settlement.
The remaining months stayed the same as Septembris, the seventh; Octobris, the eighth; Novembris the ninth and Decembris, the tenth month of the year.
By the Middle Ages the church discovered that there was a discrepancy in the Julian calendar, in such that it was off by 11 minutes a year and every 128 years, the calendar produced one day too many. Thus, by 1582 the calendar was off by 13 days and what was considered Jan. 13 was, in fact, Jan. 1. In October 1582 a new calendar was introduced as a modification, with an extra day every four years (commonly known as leap year) and named after Pope Gregory XIII (Gregorian calendar).
Let us embrace the “tenth” month of the year with very similar sounding names in various languages: Dezember in German, Diciembre in Spanish, Dicembre in Italian, Décembre in French, December in Swedish, Desember in Norwegian, December in Dutch and even Dasamber in Pashtu.
Enjoy the month with colorful markets, the hustle and bustle of the season and maybe even a bit of relaxation towards the end after a busy year.
A fun fact at the end: Romans left even more traces that are still apparent in our modern-day life and language. Our solar system with its planets is also named after Roman gods: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus und Neptun. Our planet was sometimes lovingly referred to as “Terra Mater” (mother earth) or simply as “Globus” (sphere).
