February is an unusual month. Read here what the leap year and the 28 days have to do with the ancient Romans.
the February has a long history. Emperors, popes and kings have had to deal with it. The fact that our year coincides with the seasons is not least due to the 28 days or, in leap years, the 29 days of February.
The Gregorian calendar used in Germany and most other countries in the world dates back to the Roman antiquity. Why February and not another month has only 28 days can also be explained with Roman superstition.
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The origins of the calendar: A year with ten months
Everything is said to have started with the mythical founder and first king of Rome: Romulus. According to legend, he developed the first Roman calendar. The year had only ten months and began in March, named after the Roman god of war, Mars. December is the tenth month of the year and because of the Latin word for ten, decem, means exactly that.
The months were 30 or 31 days long and winter was just an undated time. Only Rome’s second king Numa Pompilius, whose existence historians doubt, is said to have died around 700 BC. introduced two new months in winter: Ianarius and Februaryius – January and February. Italy breathed a sigh of relief: finally you could arrange snowball fights.
These early calendars, unlike today, were based on the lunar cycle. Just as they copied their heaven of gods, the Romans copied this cycle from the Greeks. Each lunar cycle lasts 29.5 days, so 12 cycles make a year of 354 days.
Emergence of February: The superstition of the Romans leads to adjustments
While the Romans did not shy away from military conflicts, the number 354 caused them greater concern. Even numbers were considered messengers of in Roman culture bad luck. Therefore, some changes had to be made to lengthen the year from 354 days to 355 days.
the King Numa deducted one day from every 30-day month. To get to the 355 days, 57 days remained, which he divided between January and February. January was allocated 29 days, February 28 days. At least one of the months must have an even number of days if the year is not also to be even.
One problem: at 355 days, the calendar was 10 days shorter than that solar year. After a few years, the festivals and the seasons no longer correspond to the lunar calendar. Therefore, Roman priests developed the additional month of Mercedonius of 22 or 23 days, added to February every other year. Every other year therefore had 377 or 378 days.
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The reformer: Julius Caesar
Because the terms of office of politicians depended on the length of the year, the calendar increasingly became a pawn in political disputes. After the Roman Civil War, from the Julius Caesar victorious, the new ruler began reforming the calendar.
The new Julian calendar With its 365 days, it was based on the solar year. A day was added every fourth year to keep in sync with the actual 365.25 day solar year.
Caesar used the ten extra days to lengthen the months to 30 or 31 days. Just not February, which was limited to 28 days, or 29 days in leap years. That has changed since 2,000 years received like this.
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The longest year in history: 445 days
In order for the new calendar to start at the right time, three additional months were added in the first year. The year 46 BC was thus whole 445 days long and went down in history as the “annus confusionis”, the year of confusion.
Later, the months of January and February were placed at the beginning of the year. And Julius Caesar was honored with the month name July, like Emperor Augustus was honored with the August.
One last problem remained: Because the solar year is not exactly 365.25 days, but slightly less, the Julian calendar results in one day too many every 121 years. In 1582, the then Pope Gregory the errors of the Julian calendar. In the Gregorian calendar, which we also use today, three leap days are omitted every 400 years.
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February: leap year or no leap year?
when a leap year and that February with 29 days is due can be calculated using simple formulas.
- If the year is divisible by four but not by 100, it is a leap year. The next leap year will be 2024 being.
- On the other hand, if the season is divisible by 100 but not by 400, it is not a leap year. The year 2100 will therefore not be a leap year.
- However, if it is divisible by 400, it is a leap year.
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