Mr.
A’s Back In Time Notes
History is the written record of events in which time and human phenomena take place. History itself does not quantify time and human phenomena before writing (Cuneiform & Hieroglyphs). Therefore, the period of prehistory, history before the advent of writing covers the archeological finds of ancient civilizations, such as artifacts of use, weapons, and art.
Time itself began to be measured based on the lunar cycle, which charts the movement of the moon around the Earth taking roughly 29.53059 days, which give us the concept of a month. Due to the influence of the Sun on Earth’s speed and the Earth on the moon’s speed, the time shift to measure a full orbit of the month can change by 25 mins daily or roughly a full day by the end of the month. There are three full moons in a season. There are four seasons. Therefore, there are 12 months of the year. Many ancient cultures including Rome and Greece have calculated time based on the lunar cycle.
The word Calendar is from Kalendae, meaning first day of the month or the day of the new moon. Note full moons usually occur the 13th - 15th day of the month. Half moons 5-7th day of the month.
The Julian Calendar (changes are lunar to Solar calendar, July- Julius Ceasar, August- Augustus), the Romans used a 355 day calendar prior to, and experienced fluctuations in their years, which changed dates of feast. Credit for design is given to Sosigenes of Alexandria by Pliny the Elder in Natural History Naturalis Historiæ 77-79 AD.
"... There were three main schools, the Chaldaean, the Egyptian, and the Greek; and to these a fourth was added in our country by Caesar during his dictatorship, who with the assistance of the learned astronomer Sosigenes (Sosigene perito scientiae eius adhibito) brought the separate years back into conformity with the course of the sun."
Sosigenes of Alexandria was named by Pliny the Elder as the astronomer consulted by Julius Caesar for the design of the Julian calendar.
Little is known about him apart from Pliny's Natural History. Sosigenes appears in Book 18, 210-212:
The Julian months were formed by adding ten days to a regular pre-Julian Roman year of 355 days, creating a regular Julian year of 365 days. Two extra days were added to January, Sextilis (August) and December, and one extra day was added to April, June, September and November. February was not changed in ordinary years, and so continued to be the traditional 28 days. Thus, the ordinary (i.e., non leap year) lengths of all of the months were set by the Julian calendar to the same values they still hold today.
Sources
Wikipedia topics include lunar cycle, Julius Caesar, Julian Calendar, Solar Calendar, Egyptian Calendar, Pliny the Elder, Natural History, Gregorian Calendar, Pope Gregory XIII
Fiero, G 1998 The Humanistic Tradition vol. 2
Hart-Davis, Adam 2009 History: The Definitive Visual Guide
History is the written record of events in which time and human phenomena take place. History itself does not quantify time and human phenomena before writing (Cuneiform & Hieroglyphs). Therefore, the period of prehistory, history before the advent of writing covers the archeological finds of ancient civilizations, such as artifacts of use, weapons, and art.
Time itself began to be measured based on the lunar cycle, which charts the movement of the moon around the Earth taking roughly 29.53059 days, which give us the concept of a month. Due to the influence of the Sun on Earth’s speed and the Earth on the moon’s speed, the time shift to measure a full orbit of the month can change by 25 mins daily or roughly a full day by the end of the month. There are three full moons in a season. There are four seasons. Therefore, there are 12 months of the year. Many ancient cultures including Rome and Greece have calculated time based on the lunar cycle.
The word Calendar is from Kalendae, meaning first day of the month or the day of the new moon. Note full moons usually occur the 13th - 15th day of the month. Half moons 5-7th day of the month.
The Julian Calendar (changes are lunar to Solar calendar, July- Julius Ceasar, August- Augustus), the Romans used a 355 day calendar prior to, and experienced fluctuations in their years, which changed dates of feast. Credit for design is given to Sosigenes of Alexandria by Pliny the Elder in Natural History Naturalis Historiæ 77-79 AD.
"... There were three main schools, the Chaldaean, the Egyptian, and the Greek; and to these a fourth was added in our country by Caesar during his dictatorship, who with the assistance of the learned astronomer Sosigenes (Sosigene perito scientiae eius adhibito) brought the separate years back into conformity with the course of the sun."
Sosigenes of Alexandria was named by Pliny the Elder as the astronomer consulted by Julius Caesar for the design of the Julian calendar.
Little is known about him apart from Pliny's Natural History. Sosigenes appears in Book 18, 210-212:
The Julian months were formed by adding ten days to a regular pre-Julian Roman year of 355 days, creating a regular Julian year of 365 days. Two extra days were added to January, Sextilis (August) and December, and one extra day was added to April, June, September and November. February was not changed in ordinary years, and so continued to be the traditional 28 days. Thus, the ordinary (i.e., non leap year) lengths of all of the months were set by the Julian calendar to the same values they still hold today.
The Gregorian Calendar
The Julian calendar was in general use in Europe and
Northern Africa until 1582, when Pope Gregory XIII promulgated the Gregorian
calendar. Reform was required because too many leap days are added with respect
to the astronomical seasons on the Julian scheme. On average, the astronomical solstices
and the equinoxes advance by about 11 minutes per year against the Julian year.
As a result, the calculated date of Easter gradually moved out of alignment
with the March equinox.
The Gregorian calendar was soon adopted by most Catholic countries
The Gregorian calendar was soon adopted by most Catholic countries
Sources
Wikipedia topics include lunar cycle, Julius Caesar, Julian Calendar, Solar Calendar, Egyptian Calendar, Pliny the Elder, Natural History, Gregorian Calendar, Pope Gregory XIII
Fiero, G 1998 The Humanistic Tradition vol. 2
Hart-Davis, Adam 2009 History: The Definitive Visual Guide
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