……….
Julius Caesar … was a political and military genius who conquered Gaul
……….

yes, but remember that one little town that held out against the entire roman army…

Really the number of days in a week started in Genesis ch 1.

Jimbo must be referring too Oblix and Astrix?

I wonder why his problems with women wasn’t mentioned…

If Quintilis means fifth or five why is July the 7th month? March was the first month and Feb was the last(the shortest). Count up from March and Quintilis(July) will be the fifth.

@ AJS
Jimbo is either referring to the siege of Paris or Bourges in northern France or the siege of Roma by Julius with his armies. not the French comics Astrix. LOL ; P
the number of days in week started in ancient Babylon and Sumeria, 1800-1400 B.C. and ancient Vedic India, 4000 years ago. it started as a reverence for the sacred number of 7 for Feminine nurturing and fertility, astrological practices, practical purposes for the seasonal harvests of crops, the lunar calendar monthly divisions of days into 4, another sacred number and to respect astronomical and stellar bodies like constellations, planets and comets.
the seventh day was routinely the day for temple priests and servants to other than perform worship ceremonies but also afterward, cleanse ritual objects, wash instruments, heal and take care of the sick and handicapped and bring surplus harvested food and drinks to poor and starving people. it was not seen as work because it was holy to help others. a day of rest was important partly so people would attend worship and give donations so priests could keep helping the poor. this was the way of pagan societies too.
only the Roman aristocrats, Germanic Nordic Vikings and Angles & Britons of Anglo-Saxon societies lacked that warmth and nurturing compassion in society to care for the demoralized and struggling. look at my YT channel. (VampiressOnDaProwlq) LOL you may like it.

@ Jimbo likewise. did you mean Parisii or Roma?

Yes, a worthy tribute to a man who slept with every married thing on two legs, craftily maneuvered himself into a dictatorship, and probably would’ve died in a few years from the ravages of venereal disease if he hadn’t been killed–a more worthy tribute in my opinion. “SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!”

And let’s not forget the man’s taste in salads! (But seriously, folks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesar_salad)

@4eyedmonk – because the Romans hardly mentioned their women, unless they were either extremely virtuous or extremely villainous (this latter was more frequent). If you’re asking why this writer didn’t mention it, it’s not significant (or hardly unique) to Caesar.

@Jimbo – Did it hold out perpetually?

The C Section wasn’t named for Julius Caesar. Caesarian sections were around long before Caesar’s birth. The reason why the were renamed after him is because he is one of the few people who was delivered in this manner in which the mother survived. Most of the women died giving birth in this manner. Don’t fall prey to the myth that there was no such thing as a caesarian section before Julius Caesar was born.

[...] Also, it is July. Huh? This summer needs to slow down. But, it is here and we might as well learn something new. For the history of July check out this blog post on dictionary.com. [...]

This is so interesting I have never in my life read this kind story and I think it bring more meaning to me about who ceasar his.

Military genius you say! are you praising him for his conquests? One could say the same about Hitler.

ummm….yeah

when was the c section first documented?

I believe Jimbo is referring to Masada and the First Jewish-Roman war.
@Lyssie Mari Mac
I agree with AJS, seven days comprising a week began with Genesis 1 and (oh yes, I’m going to say it) the Creation.
The fact that a month is named after a person of such character as Julius Caesar comes as no surprise; mankind’s character is most often found wanting – and some more evil than others. Righteousness, integrity, right character, these come from God and His Spirt which stirs “right from wrong” within a person; not within man’s own heart.

to answer your question Pete.. March used to be the first month untill around 153bce. later it was January, named after the goddess Janus… (the goddess of new beginnings).

to answer your question Pete.. March used to be the first month until around 153bce. later it was January, named after the goddess Janus… (the goddess of new beginnings).

What about the Gregorian calendar reform? Isn’t that when the leap year was instituted to correct the Julian caledar?

This blogger is incorrect to state “But the new month is named for a mortal.” Julius Caesar was deified by senatorial decree and his adopted son, Augustus took on the title divi flius “son of the god [Julius].” Temples sprang up to worship this new “god” and the Roman people continued the religious practice of the imperial cult until the 4th century. July was named after Julius Caesar whom the Romans considered a god at the time of the change. This is signficant because such a change to honor a mere mortal would not have been tolerated but for the propaganda efforts of Rome’s first emperor and Caesar’s adopted son, Augustus. The Romans did not have a 7 day week. They counted the days according to the 1st of the month “The Kalends” and the 15th “The Ides.”

Very interesting info on this page. I didn’t know half of it. Thank you to all.
Two points need to be said though:
1. The most famous Gaul chief (and the last) who surrendered to Julius Caesar in Alesia was Vercingetorix, mentioned in J. Ceasar’s book on his wars against Gaul.
2. And Paris was called Lutecia and not Parisii at the time.
Cheers.

@MK139

Well, “the Bible” (Old Testament, thereof) which details Genesis 1 is actually a comparatively new publication (unless you think they started writing a book called “The Old Testament” in anticipation of it’s sequel). As such, many of the defining elements of it’s construction have been taken by the church from numerous other faiths and walks of life to try and incorporate as many followers as possible under one religion.

BUT THATS A DIFFERENT CONVERSATION ALTOGETHER!

Catholicism and Christianity are, by and large, the ‘new boys’ on the block when it comes to religion. The reason that Genesis took place over 7 days is simply because that’s how long a week was when the book was written.

Unless of course you’re a person of faith in which case I’m arguing with the wrong person.

MK139: Masada was After Cesar’s time. Flavius Silva laid siege to Masada. I believe Jimbo means Alesia or Avaricum, in which case both towns were taken. Long siege yes but he still won.

@Mazz, Yes he was a military genius. He directed AND fought with his men and was pretty much undefeated in battle with superior tactics. Hitler was a charismatic leader but certainly no military genius. By your logic every great commander in history BEFORE Hitlers time draws a comparison to Hitler? Jeez.

I wouldn’t put too much credence in anything documented by someone who begins a sentence with “But”, and uses it twice in the same statement. Doing so turns the thought around several different times, it is hard to tell what truth the author is asserting. The article is hard to read, and has massive grammatical and clarity issues. This author needs to spend less time in history class, and more time in communication classes. In my opinion.

If mention is to be made of Julius Caesar’s sexual activities, the controversy over whether he was or was not homosexual/”bisexual” should have been raised. Caesar married for political advantage and societal approval. He may, however, have had sex with men for his own fulfilment.

While there are a lot of fun scholarly researches that can be done on the truth of parts of this blog post, origins of biblical uses of 7 days, and such, it should be obvious from the tone that the purpose of the original article is mainly just for -use- of words, and mainstream suggested origins of those words. So… …very dictionary-like, and not encyclopedia-like. So, lighten up? It could probably have used some better research/clarity, but it’s not a doctoral treatise on the etymology of july, it’s just a blog post.

Gale
“In my opinion.” is not a sentence. In my opinion, you need to spend more time in communication classes.

Let us not forget the orangeaid he was so fond of.

Happy New Month Everyone!!!!!!!!

His problems with women were mentioned. It states he was a misogynist.

I find it interesting that people argue on blogs as well. A bit cowardly “in my opinion”.

I also think it’s cool that there are obviously some real scholars who like to blog.
Classicyst stated that the Romans would not have tolerated the change if in fact they considered Julius a mortal. So they fancied him a god? Did they decide he was a god before or after his death, and did the change take place before or after he died?

And from what I understand they also believed n Demi-gods. Was this what people saw him as?

Jimbo was indeed referring to the sole defiant Gaulish village in the Astérix and Obélix comics, I’m sure.

Brewchief: Remember the Pax Romana. Not without its faults, no, but it did quite a lot good too.

Maaz: You don’t have to be a good man to be a military genius. Besides, Hitler *employed* military geniuses; he didn’t have to *be* one himself.

MK139: Righteousness, integrity, right character — these have been known to exist in many people who never heard of your God or Spirit. It is at least uncharitable of you to make such an exclusionist claim.

aj: Good explanation of the months’ re-numbering (but remember that Janus was a god, not a goddess).

Deni101: The Gregorian calendar reform *adjusted* the leap-year system, correcting the errors that had accumulated since Caesar’s time. Only 97 leap days are needed in 400 years, not 100, so they omitted the leap day for each century year not divisible by 400. (1600 and 2000 were leap years, but not 1700, 1800, or 1900.)

Classicist: No need to nitpick over the mortality of Julius Caesar (or Augustus). They were mortals in reality; they were just *considered* to be gods for political purposes.

Gio Saggio: “In my opinion.” is indeed not a sentence — but, so what? Sentence fragments, such as that one, are common rhetorical devices. In *my* opinion, you need to lighten up about informal communication. Maybe in a communication class?

I think this is a very informative BLOG that I happen to appreciate very much; considering I had forgotten “so much” about History…THANK YOU for all your Efforts and INFORMATION! I will check on all your work in order to learn more..But I will not by any means criticize the Author of this blog, because to me this person was just trying to give us a lot of inromation.. and it is also forcing me to study harder…I think some of you are “too critical” and some of you are ABSOLUTELY CUTE! GOD bless you all anyways and HAPPY JULY! Maria from Springfield_Oregon

A military genius and a wonderful grammarian, someone with whom I share a passion for the peculiarities of the Latin language. But nevertheless, a murderer and a tyrant. Let’s not forget the hundreds of thousands of Gauls he murdered.

Why do we use Latin derived names for our months anyways? We had perfectly fine month names in Old English. Look in Tolkien’s “Shire Calender” for speculation as to what they might have come down to us Modern speakers, had we kept them (he was a linguist & philologist). As for the days of the week, they were named for the known “planets” at the time, wich were seven. Interesting that we “translated” the names for our days, but not our months.

In my op ed I think everyone who contributed to this comment site is terrific and a cut way above any of our cable helmet head media commentators.

Up until I read your intellectual insights I was sure my fellow countrymen and women were all illiterate, but you have infused me with new confidence and I will be reading comments from now on, if only to find out what Classicist added to the conversation. Bravo!

I think what Ceasar has to do with the calendar was that he realized it was wrong and science says the days are like they are and you can’t refute it, so he said we should have it adjusted to how nature works.

That’s just my opinion, but it makes sense that the world and the year is the length it is because it always has been, and they just needed someone to realize it. He didn’t decide for it to work like this out of nowhere and then it just happens to actually work like that.

I agree. Happy month of July everyone! That’s where it all started…and we’ll meet again here next month to speak passionately about Emperor Augustus…

Most entertaining and amusing.

@KHP
I am a man of faith!

Quintilis had 30 days. July has 31 days. February had to give up a day. August too had 30 days and February once again had to give up a day. So now lowly February has 28 days while mighty July and August have 31 days. August was named after Augustus Caesar. The Caesars had big egos even with months named after them.

@AJS: Get off your pulpit – the blog doesn’t even mention days of the week!

Even Nero decided to name a month of the year after himself. Thank God that was abandoned later.

You don’t think Nepolean had anything to do with the calenda?

these Romans are crazy!!!!

I’d be pretty stoked with a month named after me, but I reckon February still get’s it pretty sweet, being the only 28 day month and occasionally getting a leap year.

Gale, can you identify any rule that actually says that you can’t start a sentence with ‘but’? As far as I am aware, ‘but’ is a conjunction, which means that is links things; clauses, sentences, ideas, paragraphs and the like. One could argue that it is a coordinating conjunction, but it still is used to link the sentences. I would love to know more about this.

Mr Gay Pride, I understand that you are gay, and proud of it. And I am proud for you (There we go again, starting sentences with a coordinating conjunction). However, I do not appreciate poor historians making unsubstantiated, and even fabricated, claims about prominent historical figures. Homosexuality was a common practice in ancient Rome. Does that make every Roman an homosexual? I would like to see some hard facts before I start talking about Julius Caesar’s homosexual tendencies.

I very much enjoyed this blog, thanks to everyone for contributing. And before we start throwing stones at those that aren’t writing with perfect grammar, just check to make sure you don’t live in a glass house. You probably do.

Back to the topic in hand. Spare a thought for your antipodean comrades, for whom July is a chilly, wintery time. I almost turned off my air-conditioning this morning.

It’s been fun.

Ceasar was a very fair Ruler, very unselfish!

Ceasar was a very nice man!

@Geoff “Homosexuality was a common practice in ancient Rome. Does that make every Roman an homosexual?”
Well, yes, Geoff! It sure don’t make ‘em ramrod straight! (And “an homosexual”? Ooh la la!)

I want to know if ol Jules ate Caesar Salad. Does anyone know??

Keep up the arguing, guys… It makes it more amusing for the rest of us!!!

this one is jus as dumb… y dont ya argue bout sumthin worth arguin bout?

I don’t know why people are getting so upset that Ceasar killed a lot of Gauls. They almost took over the entire galaxy, had it not been for that one incident with the Replicators.

@Lyssie Mari Mac: Yes, i too am sure that Jimbo was referring to the comic strip Asterix and Obelix – but if the rest of what you say is true it shows that there is a lot of history in those comics

Hey hangonimcomin!

What do U class as worth arguing about?? Just out of interest!!
Now me…I luv arguing…about anything!!!

Janus was not a goddess – he was a god! In Latin, “door” is “ianua” (the “j” didn’t come about until about 500 years ago – possibly, it was “Romeo and Iuliet”). “Ianus” was depicted as a god with two faces – one in front and one in back. One looked to the future, and one to the past. He was the god of the new year. This was the “doorway” through which we all temporally pass.

Latin students may remember “ianua” and “fenestra” – “door” and “window”. The second word survives in “defenestrate” – to “throw (someone) out a window” or “exit via window”.

I wonder why so much fuss is made over a name. ” Call a rose by any other name it smells as sweet as rose”. That’s it. World in those days was not a Global village. Each mighty king was a Law unto himself “An appeal from caesar lay unto Caeser “. But, today, to name any thing which is of a universal nature, the opinion from all over the globe is sought before naming. Perhaps we could name January as ” ROCKET” August as “ATOM”
SEPT; AS “NEUTRON” . Any hassle?? Why break our heads over dead past which means nothing to us today. Be in the ” NOW”.

The word for surgical birth is actully “cesarian”. Caesar had nothing to do
with it. “Cesar’ has to do with cutting

FYI, Hitler was a fascist figurehead put into power by the international ruling class to thwart the rise of communism during the depression. He was funded by many different sources, including fascists in the good ol’ USA. Consider a bankrupt Germany producing thousands of planes, tanks, guns, etc. and paying thousands of troops, if in doubt. Read *The Crime and Punishment of I.G. Farben*, should you still be in doubt.

Hitler was a criminal, purely a sociopath, set up to plunge the world into a very profitble war [for those who had the means to profit from mass murder]. Hitler was no more a leader than G. W. Bush, he was simply a means to an end of making cash for those who enjoy lording over we gullible, trusting, working stiffs. Comparisons to Caesar are ridiculous, despite all Caesar’s flaws. Read his chapter in Plutarch’s lives, if in doubt…

I have no desire to minimize the atrocities that Julius Cesar is known to have done, but I what about Nero, who supposedly fiddled while Rome burned. I do not know how much truth there is in a movie have called “Quo Vadis,” but according to the movie Nero was instrumental in ordering that Rome be burned so that he could rebuild it and name it after himself; I am sure there were countless fatalities. I think Nero was “sick in mind and body” (as the character Peter said).

Re: Gale

Curious that you criticize the writing mechanics when you have both a comma splice and a sentence fragment in your post. Ever heard the phrase, “People in glass houses . . .”?

Curious how touchy anything regarding religion is discussed in absolute terms? If the number of days in a weekwas so well “defined” in the Bible, why are the days named after various humans and deities of so-called pagan religions? Could it be that the number of days was already established in tradition rather than dictated by a god?

RAF is right: caesarian section has nothing to with Julius Caesar but everthing to do with the latin word for cutting (caedere, caedo, cecidi, caesum), as in surgical incision. Birth by c(a)esarian section is birth by surgery.