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N.S.Gill's Ancient History Blog

By N.S. Gill, About.com Guide to Ancient History since 1997

Which Month Was Quintilis?

Monday June 30, 2008
Roman counting is confusing since it is inclusive, so if, for instance, you want to know how many days there are in a week, using the Roman system, you would have to include both Sundays, as well as the days in between. The answer would be octo '8' (as in October). The calendar is confusing for many reasons. For those who understand the Latin for the numbers, it is puzzling to see that, for instance, September is not the seventh month of the year, since the Latin for 7 (septem) is clearly present in the word. There is no inclusive counting involved in determining which month is called the fifth. The Roman word for 'five' is quinque and the Latin for 'fifth' is quintus. Do you know which month is Quintilis or Quinctilis?

If not, see Which Month Was the Roman Quintilis?

Comments

July 5, 2008 at 1:37 am
(1) Patricia Napolitano says:

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. This includes both Sunday and Saturday and the days in between and still adds up to seven (7). How does “inclusive counting” make this eight?!?

July 5, 2008 at 7:37 am
(2) ancienthistory says:

I wrote that wrong and have fixed it. Thanks. If you want to count the days in the current week, you would count both July 5 and July 12.

January 11, 2009 at 8:20 pm
(3) historrryyy says:

It was named in honor of Julius Caesar after his death. July.

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