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The calends or kalends (Latin: kalendae) is the first day of every month in the Roman calendar. The English word "calendar" is derived from this word.

Use

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The Romans called the first day of every month the calends, signifying the start of a new lunar phase. On this day, the pontiffs would announce the number of days until the next month at the Curia Calabra; in addition, debtors had to pay off their debts on this day. These debts were inscribed in the kalendaria, effectively an accounting book.

Modern calendars count the number of days after the first of each month; by contrast, the Roman calendar counted the number of days until certain upcoming dates (such as the calends, the nones or the ides). The day before the calends was called pridie kalendas, but the day before that was counted as the "third day", as Romans used inclusive counting.

To calculate the day of the calends of the upcoming month, counting the number of days remaining in the current month is necessary, then adding two to that number. For example, April 22 is the 10th day before the calends of May (ante diem decimum Kalendas Maias/Maii), because eight days are left in April and both end dates are included in the total.[1]

Computation

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The following lines of poetry aid calculations relating to the day of the month from the calends:

Principium mensis cujusque vocato kalendas:
Sex Maius nonas, October, Julius, et Mars;
Quattuor at reliqui: dabit idus quidlibet octo.

This means that the first day is called the calends; six days after the calends is the nones of May, October, July and March, while the nones comes only four days later for the other months; the ides comes eight days after the nones.[2]

Expressions

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The calends was a feature of the Roman calendar, but it was not included in the Greek calendar. Consequently, to postpone something ad Kalendas Graecas ("until the Greek calends") was a colloquial expression for postponing something forever. This phrase survived for many centuries in Greek (Ancient Greek: εἰς τὰς ἑλληνικὰς καλένδας) and in the Romance languages (Spanish: hasta las calendas griegas; Italian: alle calende greche; French: aux calendes grecques; Romanian: la calendele grecești; Portuguese: às calendas gregas ; etc.).

The Latin term is traditionally written with initial K: this is a relic of traditional Latin orthography, which wrote K (instead of C or Q) before the vowel A. Later, most Latin words adopted C, instead. It is sometimes claimed that the kalends was frequently used in formal or high-register contexts, and that that is why it retained its traditional spelling, but there seems to be no source for this.

References

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Further reading

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Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Calends

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The Calends (Latin: kalendae), also known as the Kalends, designated the first day of each month in the ancient , serving as a primary reference point for dating events. The English word "" derives from this term, rooted in the Latin calare ("to call out" or "proclaim"), referring to the of the month's start. Originating in the lunar-based attributed to , the legendary founder of around the 8th century BCE, the Calends initially aligned with the sighting of , announced publicly by priests to inform the populace of the month's start and forthcoming festivals. This proclamation held religious significance, tying the to agricultural cycles and lunar phases, though the system was rudimentary with only ten months totaling 304 days. Under King in the 7th century BCE, the expanded to twelve months and approximately 355 days, with the Calends retaining its role as the monthly anchor, but intercalary months were periodically added to reconcile lunar and solar years, leading to frequent misalignment. By the late Republic, the calendar's inaccuracies—drifting by up to three months from the seasons—prompted Julius Caesar's comprehensive reform in 46 BCE, advised by the astronomer Sosigenes of , which introduced the with 365.25 days per year and fixed the Calends as the unchanging first day of each month, eliminating reliance on lunar observations. In Roman dating conventions, days were reckoned inclusively backward from the Calends (to the previous month's end), the Nones (5th or 7th), and the Ides (13th or 15th), as in "ante diem VIII Kalendas Ianuarias" for December 25. The Calends also carried practical and cultural weight: debts were often due on the calends, particularly the Kalends of , and this inspired the "on the Greek Calends" (meaning "never," as the had no calends); it further influenced medieval Christian calendars' "red-letter days," where the Kalends of was marked in red. This system persisted into the Julian era and influenced subsequent Western calendars, though the Gregorian reform of 1582 CE further refined the solar alignment without altering the Calends' conceptual legacy.

Etymology and Definition

Origin of the Term

The term "calends" derives from the Latin kalendae, which originates from the verb calare, meaning "to call out" or "to proclaim." This etymology reflects the ancient Roman practice of publicly announcing the start of each month, a duty performed by the pontifices, the college of Roman priests responsible for religious and calendrical matters. In the early , a pontifex minor would observe the appearance of the new moon from the , the official residence of the in the , and report it to the rex sacrorum. The or a designated would then conduct a and proclaim the kalendae to the assembled people near the Curia Calabra, adjacent to the , marking the month's beginning and aligning it with lunar phases. This announcement, often accompanied by the chant "Jana novella" to the moon goddess Juno, ensured communal awareness of the calendar's progression. The term's evolution into the English word "calendar" occurred through the Latin kalendarium, referring to the account books or ledgers in which debts and interest payments were recorded and updated on the kalends, when such transactions were due. Over time, kalendarium broadened to denote a register of days and months, influencing modern calendrical terminology. This linguistic development is attested in ancient sources, including Varro's De Lingua Latina, where he explains kalendae as the days when the nones are "called out" (calantur) by the pontiffs, and , which describes the kalendae as divinely overseen occasions for auspicious proclamations. The kalendae's roots in lunar observation underscore the Roman calendar's initial alignment with the moon's cycles.

Meaning in the Roman Calendar

In the , the calends (Latin: kalendae) denoted the first day of every month, functioning as the primary reference point for dating events and transactions throughout the month. This fixed position on the 1st established it as the foundational marker, from which days were reckoned forward or backward depending on the calendrical method. Unlike the nones, which fell on the 5th day in shorter months or the 7th in longer ones, and the ides, which occurred on the 13th or 15th respectively, the calends remained consistently the initial day without variation across months. These distinctions highlighted the calends' unique role as the month's commencement, separate from the mid-month anchors provided by the nones and ides. Symbolically, the calends were associated with , marking the onset of the lunar cycle in the original Roman calendrical system and signaling renewal for the ensuing month. This lunar tie reflected the calendar's early astronomical foundations, where the calends' priestly announcement—derived from the Latin calare, meaning "to proclaim"—publicly declared the month's start. Examples of calends nomenclature include Kalendae Ianuariae for , which often featured religious observances, and Kalendae Aprilis for , linked to rites honoring Virilis. Such naming conventions emphasized the calends' integral place in Roman temporal organization.

Historical Development

Early Roman Calendar

The early Roman calendar is traditionally attributed to , the legendary founder of around 753 BCE, who established a lunar system consisting of ten months totaling 304 days. This calendar began in spring with () and ended in , aligning the months with key agricultural cycles such as planting and harvesting, while leaving the winter period as an unassigned span of approximately 61 days without named months. The months were Martius, , , Junius, , , , , , and , with the latter six named numerically to reflect their positions in the year. The calendar's lunar basis meant that each month started on the calends, which corresponded to the observation of the new moon's crescent, signaling the beginning of a new lunar cycle of approximately 29 or 30 days. Priests would announce the sighting publicly, giving rise to the term "calends" from the practice of proclamation. This observational method ensured the months followed the moon's phases, but the fixed 304-day structure drifted from the solar year, necessitating adjustments to maintain seasonal alignment for agriculture.

Reforms and Changes

The reforms attributed to around 713 BCE marked a significant evolution from the earlier ten-month , introducing and to create a 12-month year of 355 days and to better align with the solar year through an intercalary month known as (or Intercalaris). This intercalary month, added periodically after and consisting of 27 days, occurred roughly every two years to accommodate the discrepancy between the lunar and solar years and support the agrarian society's reliance on predictable planting and times. The calends retained their role as consistent monthly markers beginning on the first day of each month. This adjustment aimed to better approximate the while providing a more structured framework, though the remained lunisolar with periodic intercalations. During the , the pontifices, as high priests responsible for intercalation, frequently manipulated the insertion of the extra month for political advantage, such as extending office terms or delaying elections, which resulted in substantial drift and misalignment with the seasons over centuries. This irregular practice exacerbated the discrepancies inherited from Numa's system, leading to a civil year that could deviate by up to three months from the solar year by the late . The Julian reform of 46 BCE, initiated by with astronomical input from Sosigenes of Alexandria, replaced the lunisolar model with a purely averaging 365.25 days through leap years every fourth year, thereby fixing the calends definitively on the first of each month without altering their nomenclature or primary function as debt due dates. This shift eliminated intercalation manipulations and restored seasonal , with the reformed year beginning on to align agricultural and religious cycles more reliably. In 1582 CE, Pope Gregory XIII's reform refined the by adjusting the rule to skip centurial leap years not divisible by 400, shortening the average year to 365.2425 days and correcting accumulated drift, while preserving the calends' position on the first of the month but severing any remaining nominal ties to the original lunar basis of the ancient Roman system. The reform omitted ten days in 1582 to realign the calendar with the vernal equinox, ensuring long-term stability without impacting the monthly structure.

Structure and Computation

Position in the Month

In the , the Calends marked the first day of every month, establishing it as the foundational point from which all other dates within the month were oriented. This positioning allowed for backward references to dates, such as denoting a day as occurring a specified number of days before the Calends of the following month. Month lengths influenced the structure around the Calends, with , May, , and comprising 31 days, resulting in a span of 15 days from Calends to Ides. The remaining months contained either 29 or 30 days, adjusting the positions of subsequent markers relative to the Calends. The intercalary month known as lacked its own Calends and was inserted immediately after , effectively postponing the Calends of and all ensuing months in years requiring adjustment. Roman fasti, the official calendars inscribed on stone or painted on walls for public display, highlighted the Calends prominently, typically abbreviating it as "K" followed by the month's initial letters to denote its significance as the month's commencement. The Julian reform of 46 BCE maintained this fixed placement of the Calends as the first day across all months.

Inclusive Counting System

The Roman system for numbering days employed backward from one of three fixed points in the month: the calends (the first day), the nones (typically the fifth or seventh), or the ides (typically the thirteenth or fifteenth). Days preceding these points were denoted using the phrase "ante diem" (abbreviated A.D.), followed by a Roman numeral indicating the inclusive count to the reference day, with "pridie" specifically used for the single day immediately before. For instance, "pridie Kalendas Martias" referred to the last day of , which was the day before the calends of . This method relied on inclusive reckoning, where the reference day itself was counted as the first day in the tally. Thus, a date described as "ante diem III Kalendas" signified three days inclusive to the calends: the current day, the following day, and the calends. In a pre-Julian where had 28 days, February 27 was thus "ante diem III Kalendas Martias," encompassing February 27, 28, and March 1 (the calends). In longer months, such as a 31-day , the counts before the February calends extended higher to accommodate the additional days; for instance, was "ante diem VII Kalendas Februarias," reflecting seven inclusive days to (January 26 through 31 and ). The calends served as the primary fixed point for reckoning the final days of each month, ensuring consistency across varying month lengths.

Cultural and Practical Uses

Religious Observances

In ancient Roman religion, the calends marked the beginning of each month and were generally classified as dies fasti, days on which public religious and legal business could be conducted without impiety. These days typically involved sacred announcements and offerings to secure favorable auspices for the coming month. The or a subordinate pontifex would observe and publicly proclaim the start of the month from the Capitol, followed by sacrifices to invoke divine protection; this , known as calare, ensured the community's alignment with the gods' will. The calends of held particular prominence due to its association with the and the god , deity of beginnings, gates, and transitions. On this day, priests offered sacrifices, including unyoked heifers, at Janus's temple, symbolizing renewal and the opening of the year's peaceful pathways. describes the ceremony as a heralding of fortune, with the Rex Sacrorum and pontifices leading invocations to Janus alongside Juno, emphasizing themes of prosperity and divine favor for the consuls and populace. Monthly calends also featured household rituals centered on the , the protective spirits of the home and family. Families performed offerings of , wine, and small sacrifices at the lararium, the domestic , to honor the lares familiares alongside the household's and penates; these acts, conducted by the paterfamilias, aimed to purify the home and seek blessings for the month's endeavors. Cleaning the and invoking the lares underscored the calends' role in domestic renewal, integrating personal piety with the broader civic calendar. A notable exception was the calends of March, which coincided with the Matronalia, a dedicated to Juno Lucina, goddess of childbirth and women. Matrons visited her temple on the Capitoline, adorned with flowers, unbound their hair as a of , and offered prayers for safe deliveries and family well-being; husbands and children presented gifts to honor the mothers, reinforcing Juno's protective role at the year's ancient start. This observance, tracing to the temple's dedication in 375 BCE, blended public with intimate familial devotion. In , the calends marked the primary date for debt repayments and interest calculations, serving as a of financial transactions. Creditors maintained records of outstanding loans and interest in a known as the kalendarium, so named because payments were conventionally due on the first day of each month. This practice stemmed from the custom of accruing and settling interest monthly on the kalends. The kalendarium thus functioned as both a practical tool and a of periodic financial reckoning, influencing the development of early methods. The calends also played a significant role in Roman legal practices, where deadlines for contracts, court sessions, and public announcements were frequently established relative to this date using the inclusive counting system. Legal agreements, particularly those involving financial obligations, often stipulated performance "ad kalendas" of a specified month, ensuring synchronized enforcement across the . Court proceedings and official edicts similarly referenced the calends to define temporal limits, providing a standardized framework for judicial and administrative efficiency. Evidence from Cicero's extensive correspondence underscores this, as he repeatedly alludes to payments and settlements tied to the kalends in discussions of personal and public finances. In and market customs, the calends facilitated the settlement of vendor accounts and the timing of commercial activities, with many merchants aligning payments and inventories to this monthly benchmark. This integration of the calends into daily commerce reinforced its status as a pivotal administrative anchor in Roman society.

Idiomatic and Literary References

The Greek Calends

The Latin idiom ad Graecas calendas ("at the Calends") denotes an event or action that will never occur, stemming from the Roman calendar's designation of the calendae as the first day of the month—a marker absent in , which instead reckoned the start of the month from , or noumēnia. This difference allowed Romans to mock the by referencing a nonexistent date, implying perpetual postponement. The phrase's earliest attested use appears in Suetonius's biography De Vita Divi Augusti (87.1), where Emperor reportedly quipped that certain debtors who repeatedly delayed repayment would settle their loans "ad Graecas calendas," equating it to an impossibility. By the 4th century CE, the idiom had entered Christian Latin literature, with St. Jerome employing it in his Commentary on the to emphasize something eternally deferred. Desiderius Erasmus preserved and analyzed the proverb in his influential Adagia (I.v.84, first published 1500), drawing on and to explain its mechanics: the Greeks lacked calends, rendering the phrase a witty symbol of futility in Roman discourse. Medieval and texts, such as those by Rabelais, echoed this usage to satirize empty promises or vain hopes. The expression permeated European languages, evolving into equivalents like the French aux calendes grecques ("to the calends"), which similarly conveys indefinite delay and appears in literature from the 16th century onward to critique procrastination or illusionary expectations. Culturally, it embodies Roman cultural superiority over Greek practices, transforming a calendrical peculiarity into a timeless emblem of the unattainable.

Other Expressions

In , alluded to the calends as significant dates symbolizing new beginnings. In , the term "kalends" refers to the first day of the month in the , symbolizing renewal amid the narrative's themes of love and fate. Proverbs emphasizing timely repayment drew on the calends' role as a standard settlement day in Roman practice. The expression "to pay on the calends" highlighted promptness, contrasting with deferrals that implied avoidance, as the calends marked the monthly obligation for rents, taxes, and accounts. In works, evoked Roman dating conventions, integral to historical authenticity. Although not directly naming calends, incorporates the Roman monthly structure—including nones and ides—to frame events like the assassination plot, underscoring the era's temporal rhythms. Modern often nods to calends to immerse readers in Roman chronology. Authors use the term to date events precisely, as in depictions of ancient legal or economic scenes, preserving the calends' original as the month's inaugural and accountable day.

References

  1. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/encyclopaedia_romana/calendar/romancalendar.html
  2. https://faculty1.coloradocollege.edu/~manderson/calendar/Notes%20on%20the%20Roman%20Calendar.htm
  3. https://www.etymonline.com/word/calends
  4. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA%2A/Calendarium.html
  5. https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/macrobius/sat1.shtml
  6. https://topostext.org/work/728
  7. https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/ovid/ovid.fasti1.shtml
  8. https://www.academia.edu/2774117/Ancient_Roman_Calendar
  9. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/the-new-year-once-started-in-march-heres-why
  10. https://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-roman.html
  11. https://www.unrv.com/culture/roman-calendar.php
  12. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/encyclopaedia_romana/calendar/intercalation.html
  13. https://www.livescience.com/45650-calendar-history.html
  14. https://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/pogge.1/Ast161/Unit2/calendar.html
  15. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/the-gregorian-calendar/
  16. https://www.pas.rochester.edu/~blackman/ast104/calendars.html
  17. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/encyclopaedia_romana/calendar/juliancalendar.html
  18. https://www.britannica.com/topic/fasti-Roman-calendar
  19. https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/AJA03031896_95
  20. https://www.theoi.com/Text/OvidFasti1.html
  21. https://www.theoi.com/Text/OvidFasti3.html
  22. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Calendarium.html
  23. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1171&context=jofa
  24. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/50692/50692-h/50692-h.htm
  25. https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20111001120915978
  26. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Greek-calendar
  27. https://dokumen.pub/collected-works-of-erasmus-prolegomena-to-the-adages-9781442617650.html
  28. https://adagia.resources.huygens.knaw.nl/erasmusa15.htm
  29. https://www.lefigaro.fr/langue-francaise/expressions-francaises/pourquoi-dit-on-renvoyer-aux-calendes-grecques-20231123
  30. https://www.gradesaver.com/troilus-and-criseyde/e-text/notes-to-troilus-and-criseyde
  31. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/calends
  32. https://www.folger.edu/blogs/shakespeare-and-beyond/beware-the-ides-of-march/
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