days of the week

[Swoop109]

That is true that the romans originally based it on a number system, but it was also common for emperors to name months after themselves, reason for July (Julius) and August (Augustus).

A few other name causes snuck into the system

January= Named after the Roman god Janus. Depected as having two faces, this was a god of beginnings and ends.

March= Named after the Roman god Mars. This came about due to the Roman Army normally starting their campagians during the days around the start of spring(March 21).

November= Nova. A hold over from when this month was added to the calander

 

[d4]

November= Nova. A hold over from when this month was added to the calander

actually, no. November fits the pattern of the other end-of-the-year months:

septem = seven -- September = "seventh month"
octem = eight -- October = "eighth month"
novem = nine -- November = "ninth month"
decem = ten -- December = "tenth month"

the eleventh and twelfth months were actually July and August, which weren't added until much later (and were both named after emperors).

 

[Swoop109]

My error. Thanks for the correction.

 

[Vahktang]

Also, a decimal system for a week is kind of...20th (21st) century.
Most cultues, across the world, had a seven day week.
Because there are 7 moveable objects in the sky.
Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter
The earth didn't move (of course) and we couldn't any other planets.

So, are there 10 moveable objects in the sky in Faerun?

More later,

Vahktang

 

[evileeyore]

A break down of the originally Roman months.


January -- Janus's month
Janus is the Roman god of gates and doorways, depicted with two faces looking in opposite directions. His festival month is January.
Januarius had 29 days, until Julius Ceasar when it became 31 days long.

February -- month of Februa
Februa is the Roman festival of purification, held on February fifteenth. It is possibly of Sabine origin.
Februarius had 28 days, until Julius Ceasar when it had 29 days on every fourth year and 28 days otherwise.

Intercalaris -- inter-calendar month
Intercalaris had 27 days until the month was abolished by Julius to make way for July.

March -- Mars' month
March was the original beginning of the year, and the time for the resumption of war .
Mars is the Roman god of war. He is identified with the Greek god Ares.
Martius has always had 31 days.

April -- Aphrodite's month
Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love and beauty. She is identified with the Roman goddess Venus.
Latin Aprilis
Greek Aphro, short for Aphrodite.
Aprilis had 30 days, until Numa when it had 29 days, until Julius when it became 30 days long. .

May -- Maia's month
Maia (meaning "the great one") is the Italic goddess of spring, the daughter of Faunus, and wife of Vulcan.
Maius has always had 31 days.

June -- Juno's month
Juno is the principle goddess of the Roman Pantheon. She is the goddess of marriage and the well-being of women. She is the wife and sister of Jupiter. She is identified with the Greek goddess Hera.
Junius had 30 days, until Numa when it had 29 days, until Julius when it became 30 days long.

July -- Julius Caesar's month (originally Quintilis)
Julius Caesar reformed the Roman calendar (hence the Julian calendar) in 46 BC. In the process, he renamed this month after himself.
Latin Julius mensis "month of Julius"
Latin quintilis mensis "fifth month"
Quintilis (and later Julius) has always had 31 days.

August -- Augustus Caesar's month (originally Sextilis)
Augustus Caesar clarified and completed the calendar reform of Julius Caesar. In the process, he also renamed this month after himself.
Latin Augustus mensis "month of Augustus"
Latin sextilis mensis "sixth month"
Sextilis had 30 days, until Numa when it had 29 days, until Julius when it became 31 days long.

September -- the seventh month
Latin septem "seven" + -ber (adj. suffix)
September had 30 days, until Numa when it had 29 days, until Julius when it became 30 days long.

October -- the eighth month
Latin octo "eight" + -ber (adj. suffix)
October has always had 31 days.

November -- the nineth month
Latin novem "nine" + -ber(adj. suffix)
Novembris had 30 days, until Numa when it had 29 days, until Julius when it became 30 days long.

December -- the tenth month
Latin decem "ten" + -ber (adj. suffix)
December had 30 days, until Numa when it had 29 days, until Julius when it became 31 days long.


TTFN

EvilE (a bit of a Romophile...)

 

[evileeyore]

For more info on other cultures check out:

Chinese Calendar always a favorite with me for my homebrews, primarily for it being Lunar/Solar based and not Celestial like the Roman. Also for the year names and spiritual connections...

Hebrew Calendar another Lunar/Solar.

Calendar History for a basic coverage of the different calendar systems used on Earth...



TTFN

EvilE

 

[Davelozzi]

An idea I once had (I can't remember if I actually used it, I haven't played FR in a while) was to name them after the gods of ancient Netheril. This works well as there are conveniently exactly ten Netherese gods, and of course the refugees of Netheril spread out all over the place, especially to the areas that are the main focus of many FR products (Waterdeep & the North, Western Heartlands, Cormyr, Sembia, the Dalelands, and the Moonsea).

Several of the Netherese gods exist in the modern Faerunian pantheon, but many of the portfolios have changed a bit. Particularly, some of their portfolios shrunk as other gods took over different aspects of therm.

The Netherese gods were:
Ammaunator (LN) - bureacracy, law, sun, rulership (may be related to/ancestor of Lathander).
Jannath (NG) - wild nature, animals, sea, forests, farmers, summer (precursor to Chauntea, with most of Silvanus's stuf weappend in).
Jergal (LE) - death, the dead, funerals, tombs, undead, tyrranny, dusk (precursor to Bane/Bhaal/Myrkul, but with some Kelemvor-esque tendencies).
Kozah (CE) - Storms, destruction, rebellion, strife, ravaging beasts, natural disasters (precursor to Talos with some Malar thrown in).
Moander (CE) - rotting death, decay, corruption, parasites
Mystryl (CN) - magic, the weave, spellcasters, creativity, knowledge, invention, song, time, spring (pre-Mystra with a bunc of other stuff thrown in).
Selune (CG) - moon, stars, dreams, purity, love, marriage, navigation, trackers, wanderers, good lyncathropes, autumn (as modern Selune but with Sune, Shaundakul and a few others wrapped in).
Shar (NE) - dark, night, hatred, loss, forgetfulness, sleep, illusions, lies, betrayl, thieves, murder, winter (as modern Shar with elements of Leira, Cyric, Mask, Bhaal and Auril).
Targus (CN) - war, skill-at-arms, duels, berserkers, plunder (as Tempus and Garagos the Reaver, who may actually be the same god).
Tyche (N) - Fortune, luck, fate, accidents, misfortune, adventurers, explorers, trade (later split into Tymora and Besheba but also had elements of Waukeen & Shaundakul's portfolios).

You could make up any variation of names on this from using the names as is, adding -day (Ammaunaday, Jannaday, etc.) to something more creative.

 

[Tonguez]

Also, a decimal system for a week is kind of...20th (21st) century.
Most cultues, across the world, had a seven day week.

Actually the Egyptians used a Ten-Day week (so the decimal system isn't modern), the Assyrians used a 5-day week, some Pacific Islands use the 14 day split (new moon to full moon) and in some parts of Africa it was a 4-day week.
The Mayans had 20-day Months (and thus they probably weren't divided into 7-day weeks) but the Mayan calenders cover 52 years (18,980 days per Round) so things get crazy with their system

The Babylonians and then the Jews used the seven-day week we are used to, based on the visible planets

 

[the Jester]

Also, a decimal system for a week is kind of...20th (21st) century.
Most cultues, across the world, had a seven day week.
Because there are 7 moveable objects in the sky.
Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter
The earth didn't move (of course) and we couldn't any other planets.

So, are there 10 moveable objects in the sky in Faerun?

More later,

Vahktang

My game world has a nine-day week due to astronomical reasons.

 

[SylverFlame]

February -- month of Februa
Februa is the Roman festival of purification, held on February fifteenth. It is possibly of Sabine origin.
Februarius had 28 days, until Julius Ceasar when it had 29 days on every fourth year and 28 days otherwise.

Actually, February had 29 days and one of those days was "borrowed" for July (or was it August?) because the emperor it was named after didn't like not having 31 days in the month. The origins of having leap years is beyond my ken, so no comment there, but it would make sense that either Cesar or the guy that came up with our present calander created it.

By the way, the present calander used by Europeans and North Americans (and many other people's of the world) is the Gregorian Calander (unless I am mistaken, which has been happening a lot lately).