Why are our years structured as they are? Censorinus in his de die natali (‘Birthday Book’) for his chum Caerellius (ad 238) revealed all, as follows.
The Roman year once had ten months. It began in March, named after Mars god of war, since that was when the fighting season began. April derived from aperio, ‘I open’, because nature ‘opened’ the way for birth (wrong derivation); May from the goddess Maia; Junius from the goddess Juno; Quinctilis meaning 5th (our July); Sextilis meaning 6th (our August); and September to December from the Roman numerals seven to ten.
This ten-month year had 304 days: 31 days in March, May, July and October; 30 days in April, June, August, September, November and December. In about 713 bc, two new months were added: Januarius derived from the god Janus, who looks backwards and forwards (cf.
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