Hello Ewald, I'm sorry, I have to correct you. You are right: The Roman Calendar originally had 10 months. But the two new months which were added were January and February, not July and August. This happened about 713 B.C., only 40 years after that year 753 B.C., which is known as "Urbe condita", the foundation year of Rome by Romulus. Therefore, to make it easier to understand, and because we don't have enough information about the earliest Roman Calendar system, we can say: The Roman Calendar always had 12 months. The problem is, that the Roman year did not always start with January, as it is common in our times, but with March. The reason for this was, that the Romans were not able to start their military activities before March, because of the weather conditions. So the year began in spring, together with the beginning of the military campaigns. In the year 153 B.C. there was a reform, and since then the year began with January. In spite of this, the old names of the months remained, and therefore "septembris" - which in fact was the seventh month - became the nineth month, and so on. The Month July originally was namened Quintilis (latin "quintus" = the fifth), August was Sextilis (the sixth). Quintilis was renamed to July in in 44 B.C., with the death of Julius Cesar. The same with Sextilis to August, as far as I know in the year 8 B.C., the beginning of the consulate of Augustus. You may read further details in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_calendar I hope this will make it clear. Regards Bernd (Historian) www.geschichtswissenschaften.com Ewald Klein schrieb: > Hi, > > The other months have a normal name (in French:Janvier, février, mars, > avril, mai, juin, juillet, août). > > Here what I found in Rootsweb archives: > > << In ancient Rome, BC, they only had ten months, of which the first six had > a > name: Januarius, Februarius, Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Junius. The next ones > only had a number: seven, eight, nine, ten, but in Latin of course: septem, > octo, novem, decem. > > At one time they decided that they actually needed twelve months, and they > named these months after some of their famous emperors: Julius and > Augustus. Logically, these named months were placed after the other named > months: Januaris, Februarius, Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Junius, Julius, > Augustus, but this also meant that the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th month moved > up two places. Therefore the seventh month actually became the ninth, the > eight the tenth, etc. > > In earlier times, and still early in this century, many people, especially > those who had still learned Latin, wrote the abbreviated forms: > - 7ber = September means 7th month, but is actually the 9th > - 8ber = October means 8th month, but is actually the 10th > - 9ber = November means 9th month, but is actually the 11th > - 10ber = december means 10th month, but is actually the 12th > > In some cases you may also find Roman numerals used: > > VIIber , VIIIber, IXber, Xber > > The "ber" is usually in superscript. > > The ending -ber becomes -bre in French>> > > I hope that this clarify a bit.... > > Ewald > > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > 2011/8/6 Carolyn J Thomas<[email protected]> > >>> Ewald, thanks for sending this it is very helpful. Could you list the >> rest of >> the months. I write all of this stuff in a book which helps me so very >> much >> when I am "trying" to read records. >>> Walk in peace, >>> Linn >> >>>> Used in civil records to say months: >>>> 7bre = Sept. >>>> 8bre = Oct. >>>> 9bre = Nov. >>>> 10bre or Xbre = Dec >>>> Ewald >> >>

Hi Bernd, Bin mit Ihnen einverstanden! I agree with you! I was too quick to send the message that I have not read in detail: the added months to the Roman year which comprised ten months are effectively January and February. Here another source: http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/romancalendars/qt/RomanFebruary.htm Alles Beste aus München wo ich mich momentan aufhalte Ewald +++++++++++++++++++ 2011/8/7 Bernd Krause <[email protected]> > Hello Ewald, > > I'm sorry, I have to correct you. > You are right: The Roman Calendar originally had 10 months. But the two > new months which were added were January and February, not July and > August. This happened about 713 B.C., only 40 years after that year 753 > B.C., which is known as "Urbe condita", the foundation year of Rome by > Romulus. Therefore, to make it easier to understand, and because we > don't have enough information about the earliest Roman Calendar system, > we can say: The Roman Calendar always had 12 months. > > The problem is, that the Roman year did not always start with January, > as it is common in our times, but with March. The reason for this was, > that the Romans were not able to start their military activities before > March, because of the weather conditions. So the year began in spring, > together with the beginning of the military campaigns. > > In the year 153 B.C. there was a reform, and since then the year began > with January. In spite of this, the old names of the months remained, > and therefore "septembris" - which in fact was the seventh month - > became the nineth month, and so on. > > The Month July originally was namened Quintilis (latin "quintus" = the > fifth), August was Sextilis (the sixth). > > Quintilis was renamed to July in in 44 B.C., with the death of Julius > Cesar. The same with Sextilis to August, as far as I know in the year 8 > B.C., the beginning of the consulate of Augustus. > > You may read further details in Wikipedia: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_calendar > > > I hope this will make it clear. > Regards > Bernd (Historian) > www.geschichtswissenschaften.com > > > > Ewald Klein schrieb: > > Hi, > > > > The other months have a normal name (in French:Janvier, février, mars, > > avril, mai, juin, juillet, août). > > > > Here what I found in Rootsweb archives: > > > > << In ancient Rome, BC, they only had ten months, of which the first six > had > > a > > name: Januarius, Februarius, Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Junius. The next > ones > > only had a number: seven, eight, nine, ten, but in Latin of course: > septem, > > octo, novem, decem. > > > > At one time they decided that they actually needed twelve months, and > they > > named these months after some of their famous emperors: Julius and > > Augustus. Logically, these named months were placed after the other named > > months: Januaris, Februarius, Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Junius, Julius, > > Augustus, but this also meant that the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th month moved > > up two places. Therefore the seventh month actually became the ninth, the > > eight the tenth, etc. > > > > In earlier times, and still early in this century, many people, > especially > > those who had still learned Latin, wrote the abbreviated forms: > > - 7ber = September means 7th month, but is actually the 9th > > - 8ber = October means 8th month, but is actually the 10th > > - 9ber = November means 9th month, but is actually the 11th > > - 10ber = december means 10th month, but is actually the 12th > > > > In some cases you may also find Roman numerals used: > > > > VIIber , VIIIber, IXber, Xber > > > > The "ber" is usually in superscript. > > > > The ending -ber becomes -bre in French>> > > > > I hope that this clarify a bit.... > > > > Ewald >