September (Roman month)

September (from Latin septem, "seven") or mensis September was originally the seventh of ten months on the ancient <a href="/facts/Roman_calendar/RbyBpk9K">Roman calendar</a> that began with March (<a href="/facts/Martius_(month)/7AMAYBfk">mensis Martius</a>, "<a href="/facts/Mars_(mythology)/WVcruI6z">Mars</a>' month"). It had 29 days. After the reforms that resulted in a 12-month year, September became the ninth month, but retained its name. September followed what was originally <a href="/facts/Sextilis/Emp0nH16">Sextilis</a>, the "sixth" month, renamed Augustus in honor of the first <a href="/facts/Roman_emperor/sT4nFc67">Roman emperor</a>, and preceded <a href="/facts/October_(Roman_month)/y9W1Dqhd">October</a>, the "eighth" month that like September retained its numerical name contrary to its position on the calendar. A day was added to September in the mid-40s BC as part of the <a href="/facts/Julian_calendar/EQBtA1ML">Julian calendar reform</a>.
September has none of the archaic <a href="/facts/Roman_festivals/xfrT3fx9">festivals</a> that are marked in large letters for other months on <a href="/facts/List_of_ancient_Roman_fasti/gGkGGdFP">extant Roman fasti</a>. Instead, about half the month is devoted to the <a href="/facts/Ludi_Romani/vQ2AUKYN">Ludi Romani</a>, "Roman Games", which developed as <a href="/facts/Ludi_votivi/p6pP6fMD">votive games</a> for <a href="/facts/Jupiter_(mythology)/JPetM2m9">Jupiter Optimus Maximus</a> ("Jupiter Best and Greatest"). The Ludi Romani are the oldest games instituted by the Romans, dating from 509 BC. On the <a href="/facts/Ides_(calendar)/RbyBpk9K">Ides</a> of September (the 13th), Jupiter was honored with a public banquet, the <a href="/facts/Epulum_Jovis/ryKAvbuI">Epulum Jovis</a>. A <a href="/facts/Clavum_fingere/GTKkzEdB">nail-driving ritual</a> in the temple marked the passing of the political year during the <a href="/facts/Roman_Republic/Han0FRLT">Republican era</a>, and in the <a href="/facts/Servian_constitution/rgq1Hu3A">earliest period</a>, the <a href="/facts/Roman_consul/7Yh7yLJp">consuls</a> took office on the Ides of September. The month was often represented in art by the grape harvest.
September was the birth month of no fewer than four major <a href="/facts/Roman_emperor/sT4nFc67">Roman emperors</a>, including <a href="/facts/Augustus/RGfMCR2V">Augustus</a>. The emperor Commodus renamed the month after either himself or <a href="/facts/Hercules_in_ancient_Rome/4lxWWYey">Hercules</a>—an innovation that was repealed after his murder in 192. In the Eastern provinces of the <a href="/facts/Roman_Empire/l4E1aUuV">Roman Empire</a>, the year began with September on some calendars, and was the beginning of the imperial tax year.

September (Roman month) open-in-new

September (Roman month)