The Romans were responsible for many things that we take for granted today.

Roads, sewers and viaducts to name but a small few. The Romans also gave us something else that is used every day ( literally ) of our lives....The days of the week and the months of the year.

The Months of the Year

The Months of the year  actually followed the agricultural cycle in Roman times even if they were not always named after them.

Thee first month of the Roman year was :

March : derives from 'Martius' dedicated to Mars which was seen as the protector of agriculture.

April : derives from 'Aphrodite' another Roman Goddess of love next to Venus.

May : derives from 'Maius'  the Roman Goddess of the Spring.

June : derives from 'Junius' the Roman Goddess of Heaven.

July : derives from Julius Caesar who's ego knew no bounds, so to name a month after himself was in line with his personality.

August : derives from Augustus Caesar who had a similar ego to Julius and thought of himself Godly enough to name a month after himself.

September : derives from the number seven called 'Septem' as it was the seventh month in the Roman Calendar.

October : derives from 'Octo' meaning eighth month of the year.

November : derives from 'Novem' meaning ninth month of the year.

December : derives from 'Decem' meaning tenth month of the year.

January : derives from 'Janus' the Roman god of beginnings. Became the first month of the year to follow its namesake after deliberation in the senate !

February : derives from 'Februa' the Roman festival which fell at this period in time within the calendar.

The Days of the Week.

Sunday : derives from 'Dies Solis' day of the Sun.

Monday : derives from 'Lunae Dies' day of the Moon, literally  Moonday.

Tuesday : derives from 'Martis Dies' day of war, whereas 'Tiu' was the worshipped god of war over Mars.

Wednesday : derives from 'Mercurii Dies' ( Mercury Day ) or more accepted the day of Woden who was swift like Mercury hence Wodens day.

Thursday : derives from 'Thor' the God of thunder. Thors day.

Friday : derives from 'Frig' the Goddess of Marriage who got her name from Venus the Goddess of love as an equivalent 'Veneris Dies' Venus day. So Frigsday ( frigs pronounced frys)  gives us Friday.

Saturday : derives from 'Saturni Dies' Saturns day.

LIFE OF EARTH SCALED DOWN TO ONE YEAR

On this scale 1 second equals 475 years with 86,400 seconds in a day which equates as the large sum of 2,592,000 (2 million & 592 thousand) seconds in a 30 day month.

One 30 day month equals 1,231,200,000 (1 billion & 231 million & 200 thousand) years 

1st January..........At midnight Big Bang--Universe is formed

15th March..........First stars and galaxies form from gas and debris

1st May..........The Milky Way forms into a our galaxy

8th September..........The Sun forms forms from gas plasma matter

9th September..........Our solar system forms

12th September..........The Earth forms

13th September..........The Moon forms

20th September..........The Earths atmosphere forms

1st October..........The earliest known micro-organisms appear

7th October..........The earliest fossils known to have existed appear

18th December..........First multiple cell life appears

19th December..........The first fish life appears

21st December..........The first land based plants and insects appear

23rd December..........The first reptiles appear

24th December..........Dinosaurs make their appearance

26th December..........The first mammals appear

27th December..........The first birds appear

28th December..........The first land based flowering plants appear

28th December..........The Dinosaurs are now extinct 

31st December at 5 minutes to midnight..........Mankind appears, yes, we have only been here 5 minutes !