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{{Short description|Intercalary month of the Roman calendar}}
'''Mercedonius''', also known as '''Intercalaris''', was the ] added in ]s of the ]. All the ancient writers say this month was inserted immediately after the Terminalia (23 February). Varro, Livy, Censorinus and Macrobius are unanimous on this point.
'''Mercedonius''' (] for "Work Month"),<ref>{{citation |author=] |title=Life of Caesar |at= }}.</ref><ref name=mom14>{{citation |last=Mommsen |first=Theodor |title=The History of Rome, ''Vol. I'' |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/10701/pg10701-images.html |editor-last=Dickson |editor-first=William Purdie |authorlink=Theodor Mommsen |date=1894 |at=Ch. xiv }}.</ref>{{efn|All Roman month names began as adjectives modifying the explicit or implicit word "month" ({{langx|la|mensis}}) before beginning to be treated as nouns in their own right. ''{{lang|la|Mercedonius}}'' seems to derive from ''{{lang|la|merces}}'', meaning "wages".}} also known as '''Mercedinus''',<ref>{{citation |author=] |title=Life of Numa |at= }}.</ref> '''Interkalaris'''<ref>'']''.</ref> or '''Intercalaris''' ({{langx|la|mensis intercalaris}}), was the ] of the ]. The resulting ] was either 377 or 378 days long. It theoretically occurred every two (or occasionally three) years, but was sometimes avoided or employed by the ] for political reasons regardless of the state of the solar year. Mercedonius was eliminated by ] when he introduced the ] in 45 BC.


==History==
For 2000 years it was accepted without question that this was the true position. In 1967, however, the suggestion first surfaced that it might sometimes have been inserted immediately after 24 February. This creates further conflict with the ancient writers, because they say that when Intercalaris was inserted the last five days of February were dropped. If Intercalaris immediately follows 24 February only the last four days of February are dropped.
This month, instituted according to Roman tradition by ],<ref name=Liddell-1909>{{cite book |first=H.G. |last=Liddell |author-link=Henry Liddell |year=1909 |title=A History of Rome |publisher=John Murray |place=London, UK |page=29}}</ref> was supposed to be inserted every two or three years to align the conventional 355-day Roman year with the ].{{efn|
]: "The lunar year of 354&nbsp;days fell short of the solar year by {{sfrac|11|1|4}}&nbsp;days: In 8&nbsp;years this amounted to 90&nbsp;days or three months. These 90&nbsp;days he divided into two months of 22&nbsp;and two months of 23&nbsp;days, and introduced them alternately every second year for two octennial periods: every third octennial period, however, Numa intercalated only ... three months ... because he adopted 355&nbsp;days as the length of his lunar year".<ref name=Livy-Spillan>{{cite book |author=] |title=History of Rome |at=Book&nbsp;I, 19, footnote&nbsp;24 |translator=Spillan, Daniel |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19725/19725-0.txt |via=gutenberg.org}} See also: ] ("Since the founding of the city" / ''History of Rome'').</ref>
:
The same theory is proposed by ].<ref>{{cite book |author=] |date=c. 430 |title=Saturnalia |title-link=Saturnalia (Macrobius)}}</ref>
:
] wrote: "Numa reckoned the variation to consist of eleven days, as the lunar year contains 354 days, and the solar year 365. He doubled those eleven days and introduced them every other year, after February, as an intercalary month, twenty-two days in duration, which was called by the Romans Mercedinus."<ref>{{cite book |author=] |title=Parallel Lives }}, ''Numa'' section XVIII</ref>
}}


The decision of whether to insert the intercalary month was made by the ], supposedly based on observations to ensure the best possible correspondence with the ]s.{{efn|
The ordinary year in the pre-Julian calendar consisted of 12 months, for a total of 355 days. As the calendar kept pace with the sun, there was an annual shortfall of some 10¼ days. There was therefore an intercalary cycle, in which this error was allowed to accumulate until it was periodically corrected by the insertion of an intercalary month.
"Their {{grey|}} management was left to the pontiffs – ''ad metam eandem solis unde orsi essent-dies congruerent'' ("that the days might correspond to the same starting-point of the sun in the heavens whence they had set out").<ref name=Livy-Spillan/>
}}
However, the pontifex maximus would normally be an active politician, and the decision would often be manipulated to allow friends to stay in office longer or force enemies out early.<ref>], '']'', Ch. XX.</ref> Such unpredictable intercalation meant that dates following the month of Februarius could not be known in advance, and further to this, Roman citizens living outside Rome would often not know the current date.


The exact mechanism is not clearly specified in ancient sources. Some scholars{{refn|
In the classical model, that of the ancient writers, a 27 or 28-day intercalary month, the Mensis Intercalaris, was sometimes inserted between February and March. It followed 23 February, and the last five days of February took their places, with their attendant festivals, as the last days of Intercalaris. They kept their usual dates of "a.d. .. Kal. Mart." For an explanation of the Roman dating system, see the article ].
such as ],<ref>{{cite book |first=C. Ludwig |last=Ideler |author-link=Christian Ludwig Ideler |year=1825 |title=Handbuch der mathematischen und technische Chronologie |lang=de |trans-title=Handbook of Mathematical and Technical Chronology |place=Berlin, DE}}</ref> ],<ref name=Liddell-1909/> ],<ref>{{cite book |last=Bickerman |first=E.J. |author-link=Elias Joseph Bickerman |year=1980 |title=Chronology of the Ancient World |place=Ithaca, NY |publisher=Cornell U.P. |ISBN=0-80-141282-X}}</ref> and the staff writers of ''Encyclopædia Britannica''.{{cn|date=May 2023}}
}}
hold that in intercalary years February's length was fixed at 23&nbsp;days and it was followed by a variable-length ''mensis intercalaris'' with 27 or 28&nbsp;days. This view is followed in generalist surveys of calendrical history.<ref>such as those of D.E. Duncan, G.R. Richards, or A. Aveni.{{full citation|date=May 2023|reason=each author needs a separate citation}}</ref>


However, following a discussion of intercalation by Michels (1967)<ref>{{cite book |author=Michels, A.K. |year=1967 |title=The Calendar of the Roman Republic |publisher=Princeton |pages=145–172}} — the standard reference on the pre-Julian calendar</ref> some specialist studies of the pre-Julian calendar published since 1967<ref>including papers and books by A. E. Samuel, P. S. Derow, P. Brind'Amour, V.M. Warrior, J. Rüpke, R. Hannah, and C.J. Bennett{{full citation|date=May 2023|reason=each author needs a separate citation}}</ref> claim that in intercalary years Februarius was set at either 23 or 24&nbsp;days, which was followed by an intercalary month of 27&nbsp;days.{{efn|
There are allusions in the classical writers to additional intercalations in February, designed to prevent a clash between certain festivals and the eight-day cycle of market days, the ''nundinae''. Some modern authors hold that some of these accounts are bogus. Some modern authors hold that one isolated account gives them the right to position the start of Intercalaris on the day immediately following 24 February in every 378-day year. In this model, uniquely, the period between the Ides and the Kalends would no longer be fixed, creating huge uncertainty as to the correct date on which to observe birthdays and festivals. Worse, the Regifugium (normally kept on the day after the Terminalia) would appear both in its usual place in ordinary years and in its usual place in intercalary years.
The view is opposed by H. Chantraine, whose opinion is in turn dismissed by Brind'Amour as special pleading.
}}{{efn|
Some of these writers assume that the various extracts from the Roman jurist ]<ref>{{cite book |author=] |title=Digest |volume=39}}</ref> quoted in the "Significations" of ]<ref>{{cite book |author=] |year=1932 |section=Significations |series=The Enactments of Justinian |title=The Digest or Pandects |translator=Scott, S.P. |place=Cincinnati |section-url=http://droitromain.upmf-grenoble.fr/Anglica/D50_Scott.htm#XVI |via=upmf-grenoble.fr}}</ref> develop an argument. However, this is not the case in Book&nbsp;50, which is a series of unrelated dictionary definitions.{{original research inline|date=May 2023}}
}}
Whichever interpretation is correct, the days ''a.d. VI Kal. Mart.'' to ''Prid. Kal. Mart.'', normally referring to the end of February, were in intercalary years the concluding days of the ''mensis intercalaris''.


⚫ The month was eliminated by Julius Caesar with his ] in 45 BC.
Some modern authors claim that Intercalaris never had 28 days. Fixing its length gives rise to the problems mentioned above. Also, the respected first-century jurist Celsus flatly denies it. Here is the Oxford Classical Dictionary, third edition, ed. Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth, Oxford University Press (1996) ISBN 0-19-866172-X at page 274:


==See also==
"The Egyptian solar calendar was adapted to Roman use, by inserting enough days in the shorter months to bring the total up to 365 and arranging for the insertion of a day, not a month, between 23 and 24 February, in leap year (thus 23 February occurred twice; the non-existent date '29 February' is a modern absurdity)."
⚫ *] and ]

*]
The impetus for the reappraisal of the classical model was the rediscovery of the sole surviving pre-Julian calendar. In this, Intercalaris is depicted with 27 days. There is a reason for this. Intercalaris always had 27 days (although the 27th might not always be the last). It did not always have 28. Roman months were depicted with a column of letters (A to H) in the left-hand column, which serves exactly the same function as the ] (A to G) in the Christian calendar. The intercalary month had no letters associated with it (the same is true of the intercalary day in the Christian calendar) or if it did the series would start with E, since the letter for 23 February was D. To balance his drawing the artist repeated the December sequence, starting with G. Unfortunately, with a 27-day Intercalaris this means the sequence ends with A, and since March begins with B it is easy to jump to the conclusion that all intercalary years are like this.
*]

In point of fact they are not. In the Christian calendar, a jump in the dominical letter in a leap year is a reality. One hebdomadal letter served for the day following 23 February (the intercalation) and the following day, so subsequent Sundays were marked against the preceding letter in the series. The same thing would happen in the pre-Julian calendar - the 28th of Intercalaris not being marked (just as the Julian leap day was not marked) all subsequent nundines would be marked against the preceding letter in the series.

The pictorial calendar has been known since 1921; the 1968 edition of the above work says "To intercalate, a month of 22 or 23 days, called Mercedonius or Intercalaris, was placed between the 23rd and 24th of February." It is important to understand that all these reconstructions are precisely that - reconstructions. They are simply assumptions, anchored to reality at points where extrinsic evidence gives a correlation. For example, there is a beautiful book of H Matzat, prepared with extensive tables on the basis of a solar eclipse, and giving the full calendar for the years 219 BC to 1 BC.

Romans believed that the month had been added to the Roman calendar, along with ] and Februarius, by King ] in the ]. The name ''Mercedonius'' comes from ''merces'', meaning ''wages'', as workers were paid at that time of year.

This month was supposed to be inserted every two or three years to align the 355-day common year with the ].<ref>"The lunar year of 354 days fell short of the solar year by 11-1/4 days;—this in 8 years amounted to 90 days. These 90 days he divided into 2 months of 22 and 2 of 23 days, and introduced them alternately every second year for two octennial periods: every third octennial period, however, Numa intercalated only 3 months because he adopted 355 days as the length of his lunar year"<br> D. Spillan, ]'s '''', Book I. 19. Footnote 24.<br> This is the theory of ] in ''Saturnalia'' (c. AD 430). </ref> The decision whether to insert the intercalary month was made by the ], supposedly based on observations to ensure the best possible correspondence with the ]s.<ref>"Their management was left to the pontiffs—''ad metam eandem solis unde orsi essent—dies congruerent''; 'that the days might correspond to the same starting-point of the sun in the heavens whence they had set out.'"<br> D. Spillan, Livy's ''History of Rome'', Book I. 19. Footnote 24.</ref> Unfortunately the pontifex maximus (whose office was generally held by a politician or soldier, notably ] during the so-called ''Years of Confusion'') often neglected to insert the month at the proper time, or deliberately inserted it early or late to allow some officials to stay in office longer or force others out early. Such unpredictable intercalation meant that dates following Februarius could not be known in advance; neither could the current date for citizens out of communication with the city.

⚫ The month was eliminated by Julius Caesar when he introduced the ] in ].


==Notes== ==Notes==
{{reflist}} {{noteslist}}


==See also== ==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
⚫ *]


==External links== ==External links==
* *
{{Roman months}}

] ]
] ]

]

Latest revision as of 02:17, 4 November 2024

Intercalary month of the Roman calendar

Mercedonius (Latin for "Work Month"), also known as Mercedinus, Interkalaris or Intercalaris (Latin: mensis intercalaris), was the intercalary month of the Roman calendar. The resulting leap year was either 377 or 378 days long. It theoretically occurred every two (or occasionally three) years, but was sometimes avoided or employed by the Roman pontiffs for political reasons regardless of the state of the solar year. Mercedonius was eliminated by Julius Caesar when he introduced the Julian calendar in 45 BC.

History

This month, instituted according to Roman tradition by Numa Pompilius, was supposed to be inserted every two or three years to align the conventional 355-day Roman year with the solar year.

The decision of whether to insert the intercalary month was made by the pontifex maximus, supposedly based on observations to ensure the best possible correspondence with the seasons. However, the pontifex maximus would normally be an active politician, and the decision would often be manipulated to allow friends to stay in office longer or force enemies out early. Such unpredictable intercalation meant that dates following the month of Februarius could not be known in advance, and further to this, Roman citizens living outside Rome would often not know the current date.

The exact mechanism is not clearly specified in ancient sources. Some scholars hold that in intercalary years February's length was fixed at 23 days and it was followed by a variable-length mensis intercalaris with 27 or 28 days. This view is followed in generalist surveys of calendrical history.

However, following a discussion of intercalation by Michels (1967) some specialist studies of the pre-Julian calendar published since 1967 claim that in intercalary years Februarius was set at either 23 or 24 days, which was followed by an intercalary month of 27 days. Whichever interpretation is correct, the days a.d. VI Kal. Mart. to Prid. Kal. Mart., normally referring to the end of February, were in intercalary years the concluding days of the mensis intercalaris.

The month was eliminated by Julius Caesar with his revised calendar in 45 BC.

See also

Notes

  1. All Roman month names began as adjectives modifying the explicit or implicit word "month" (Latin: mensis) before beginning to be treated as nouns in their own right. Mercedonius seems to derive from merces, meaning "wages".
  2. Livy: "The lunar year of 354 days fell short of the solar year by ⁠11+1/4⁠ days: In 8 years this amounted to 90 days or three months. These 90 days he divided into two months of 22 and two months of 23 days, and introduced them alternately every second year for two octennial periods: every third octennial period, however, Numa intercalated only ... three months ... because he adopted 355 days as the length of his lunar year".
    The same theory is proposed by Macrobius.
    Plutarch wrote: "Numa reckoned the variation to consist of eleven days, as the lunar year contains 354 days, and the solar year 365. He doubled those eleven days and introduced them every other year, after February, as an intercalary month, twenty-two days in duration, which was called by the Romans Mercedinus."
  3. "Their management was left to the pontiffs – ad metam eandem solis unde orsi essent-dies congruerent ("that the days might correspond to the same starting-point of the sun in the heavens whence they had set out").
  4. The view is opposed by H. Chantraine, whose opinion is in turn dismissed by Brind'Amour as special pleading.
  5. Some of these writers assume that the various extracts from the Roman jurist Celsus quoted in the "Significations" of Justinian's Law Code develop an argument. However, this is not the case in Book 50, which is a series of unrelated dictionary definitions.

References

  1. Plutarch, Life of Caesar, lix, 2.
  2. Mommsen, Theodor (1894), Dickson, William Purdie (ed.), The History of Rome, Vol. I, Ch. xiv.
  3. Plutarch, Life of Numa, xviii, 2.
  4. Fasti Triumphales.
  5. ^ Liddell, H.G. (1909). A History of Rome. London, UK: John Murray. p. 29.
  6. ^ Livy. History of Rome. Translated by Spillan, Daniel. Book I, 19, footnote 24 – via gutenberg.org. See also: Ab urbe condita ("Since the founding of the city" / History of Rome).
  7. Macrobius (c. 430). Saturnalia.
  8. Plutarch. Parallel Lives., Numa section XVIII
  9. Censorinus, On the Natal Day, Ch. XX.
  10. Ideler, C. Ludwig (1825). Handbuch der mathematischen und technische Chronologie [Handbook of Mathematical and Technical Chronology] (in German). Berlin, DE.
  11. Bickerman, E.J. (1980). Chronology of the Ancient World. Ithaca, NY: Cornell U.P. ISBN 0-80-141282-X.
  12. such as L.C. Ideler, H.G. Liddell, E.J. Bickerman, and the staff writers of Encyclopædia Britannica.
  13. such as those of D.E. Duncan, G.R. Richards, or A. Aveni.
  14. Michels, A.K. (1967). The Calendar of the Roman Republic. Princeton. pp. 145–172. — the standard reference on the pre-Julian calendar
  15. including papers and books by A. E. Samuel, P. S. Derow, P. Brind'Amour, V.M. Warrior, J. Rüpke, R. Hannah, and C.J. Bennett
  16. Celsus. Digest. Vol. 39.
  17. Justinian I (1932). "Significations [Definitions]". The Digest or Pandects. The Enactments of Justinian. Translated by Scott, S.P. Cincinnati – via upmf-grenoble.fr.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

External links

Months of the Roman calendar
Categories: