July is named for this man, and there’s a good reason whyKaboom! June, named for Juno, a famously jealous Roman Goddess, was fun, but July has arrived like fireworks. But the new month is named for a mortal, albeit one who devised and ruled an empire.Julius Caesar (as in kaiser and many other modern words) was a political and military genius who conquered Gaul (what is now part of Italy, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands), changed the political structure of the gargantuan Roman government, was assassinated in legendary fashion, and most importantly for our purposes, helped make the calendar what it is today.Without delving into the minutiae of calendar history, Caesar is responsible for the year as we know it having 365 days, and for the existence of a leap year every four years. How did this Julian Calendar help things? To give you an idea, the old calendar had something called an intercalary month that was 27 days long, added between February and March, that occurred in haphazard intervals. And our contemporary calendar is still pretty much the same system that Caesar instituted more than 2000 years ago.You’ve probably figured out by now that July was named in honor of Julius, and it seems like a worthy tribute. This is especially true when you consider the drab name of the month under the older calendar system: Quintilis, which just means “fifth” in Latin. (Sort of like naming a fluffy dog Fluffy.) When Julius Caesar died, Quintilis (which was his birth month) was replaced with July.One of Julius Caesar’s most bizarre legacies is the C section. The Caesarian section is a now-ubiquitous birth procedure that involves “the delivery of a fetus by surgical incision through the abdominal wall and uterus.” The link between the procedure and Caesar is murky, with some stories claiming that an ancestor of Caesar’s had been delivered in this manner, some saying it was Julius Caesar himself born this way, and some saying that the procedure bore the name before Caesar existed and that he may in fact have been named for it.- Dictionary.com
Thank you Emma,for these interesting informations.
It1s true,that Julius Caesar was a great reformer on many territorries.
In fact,I've read about the origins of the names of the months in nowadays on this site: http://www.pantheon.org/miscellaneous/origin_months.html
I'd like to copy here the article for those,who are interested in it:
January
Named after the Roman god of beginnings and endings Janus (the month Januarius).
February
The name comes either from the old-Italian god Februus or else from februa, signifying the festivals of purification celebrated in Rome during this month.
March
This is the first month of the Roman year. It is named after the Roman god of war, Mars.
April
Called Aprilis, from aperire, "to open". Possible because it is the month in which the buds begin to open.
May
The third month of the Roman calendar. The name probably comes from Maiesta, the Roman goddess of honor and reverence.
June
The fourth month was named in honor of Juno. However, the name might also come from iuniores (young men; juniors) as opposed to maiores (grown men; majors) for May, the two months being dedicated to young and old men.
July
It was the month in which Julius Caesar was born, and named Julius in his honor in 44 BCE, the year of his assassination. Also called Quintilis (fifth month).
August
Originally this month was called Sextilis (from sextus, "six"), but the name was later changed in honor of the first of the Roman emperors, Augustus (because several fortunate events of his life occurred during this month).
Comments
It1s true,that Julius Caesar was a great reformer on many territorries.
In fact,I've read about the origins of the names of the months in nowadays on this site:
http://www.pantheon.org/miscellaneous/origin_months.html
I'd like to copy here the article for those,who are interested in it:
January
Named after the Roman god of beginnings and endings Janus (the month Januarius).
February
The name comes either from the old-Italian god Februus or else from februa, signifying the festivals of purification celebrated in Rome during this month.
March
This is the first month of the Roman year. It is named after the Roman god of war, Mars.
April
Called Aprilis, from aperire, "to open". Possible because it is the month in which the buds begin to open.
May
The third month of the Roman calendar. The name probably comes from Maiesta, the Roman goddess of honor and reverence.
June
The fourth month was named in honor of Juno. However, the name might also come from iuniores (young men; juniors) as opposed to maiores (grown men; majors) for May, the two months being dedicated to young and old men.
July
It was the month in which Julius Caesar was born, and named Julius in his honor in 44 BCE, the year of his assassination. Also called Quintilis (fifth month).
August
Originally this month was called Sextilis (from sextus, "six"), but the name was later changed in honor of the first of the Roman emperors, Augustus (because several fortunate events of his life occurred during this month).
September
The name comes from septem, "seven".
October
The name comes from octo, "eight"
November
The name comes from novem, "nine".
December
The name comes from decem, "ten".