Overview
- Coverage cites Rome’s decision in 153 BC to shift the year’s start to January 1 so new consuls could take office during a conflict in Spain.
- The early Roman calendar ran from March to December with ten named months, explaining why September through December are numerically offset today.
- Winter days were initially left unnamed before later being counted as January and February, with some accounts placing that change around 713 BC.
- The months now called July and August were not added later but renamed from Quintilis and Sextilis in honor of Julius Caesar and Augustus.
- Later reforms standardized the system, from Julius Caesar’s Julian calendar to the Gregorian adjustment adopted widely centuries afterward.