The month of February has 28 days because, when the first Roman calendarit was thelast month of the yearwhich began in March. Consequently, it appeared logical adjust its durationrather than that of another month, in order to do coincide the calendar with the solar year. The Roman calendar was developed at the time of Romulus (8th century BC) and the month of February was added, together with that of January, by his successor and second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius. The length of February did not change when the Roman calendar was replaced by it Julian (1st century BC), which introduced, however, the principle ofleap yearestablishing that February can last 28 or 29 days. The principle was accepted, with some modifications, by Gregorian calendar in force today.
The duration of the month of February: the Roman origins
As we all know, February is the second month of the year, and unlike other months, it matters only 28 days (29 in leap years). The reasons for this peculiarity must be traced back to the history of ancient Rome. According to tradition, the first calendar, known as Roman calendarwas developed at the time of Romulus in the 8th century BC. C. and divided the year into ten monthsfrom March to December. THE winter months they were not counted, in the sense that they didn’t have a name: they were almost a time out of time.
After Romulus, he became king of Rome Numa Pompiliuswho ordered the calendar to be rearranged and add two winter months: January and February, the first dedicated to the god Janus, the second to purification. Since in Latin it is said to purify February, the month was called February. Purification rituals were held in honor of the Etruscan god Februus and of the Roman goddess Febris.
The year began in March and February was, accordingly, the last month. For this reason, it was logical to adapt its duration to match the calendar with the solar year (i.e. with a complete revolution of the Earth around the Sun). In other words, since it was necessary to cut days from a month, it was logical to choose the last one.
According to another theory, February was shorter because considered an unlucky month. However, this is a hypothesis without supporting data.
However, it is certain that the calculation carried out at the time of Numa it was imprecise and, to make the calendar year coincide with the solar year, a was added periodically intercalary month (i.e. an additional month, which was not there every year) called Mercedonio. In the 2nd century BC. C. the beginning of the year was moved to January (it was established that the consuls and other magistrates would take office in January and no longer in March), but the duration of the months was not changed.
February and the Julian calendar
In the 1st century BC. C. Julius Caesar he had the calendar rearranged by an astronomer from Alexandria, Sosigenes. The new calendar, called Julian in honor of Caesar, eliminated the intercalary month and, to adapt the duration of the Earth’s revolution year, introduced the leap yearthat is, by establishing the addition of a day every four years. He chose to add it to the shortest monththat is, February. The leap year system was accepted, with some modifications, by Gregorian calendardeveloped in the 16th century on the basis of the Julian one and now adopted in much of the world.
Augustus and the duration of the months
According to some scholars, originally February it had 29 days and 30 in leap years. The duration would have been shortened by Augustus to add a day to the month of August, dedicated to him, which previously had 30 days and was therefore shorter than July. Augustus, according to this theory, would have wanted prevent “his” month from disfiguring compared to July, dedicated to Julius Caesar, and therefore would have ordered the change. However, it is one unproven hypothesis: according to many scholars, already in the first versions of the Julian calendar February had only 28 days and 29 in leap years.
