mellowtigger (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mellowtigger) wrote2011-08-11 08:18 am
mellowtigger) wrote2011-08-11 08:18 am
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meme: Fighting August
The months of July and August have the same number of days. They are the only two consecutive months to have the same number of days, and there is a story behind this arrangement. The modern months, you see, are derived from their Roman calendar names. Romans sometimes named their months after their famous leaders. July is named after Julius Ceasar, the most famous Roman leader. The story of August, however, is a little more complicated.
Julius Ceasar was assassinated in 15 March 44 BCE. He then posthumously adopted his grand-nephew named Octavius. Octavius took a new name at this point, later became a Roman emperor, and eventually received the additional name of "Augustus" (meaning "the revered one") by the Roman senate. Augustus earned fame in his own right, but he was saddled with the history and comparisons to Julius Ceasar. Eventually the Senate agreed to honor Augustus by naming a month after him. They placed his month immediately after Julius Ceasar's month (because no one can overshadow Julius Ceasar), and by giving him the same number of days (so Augustus is not viewed as less capable than Julius).
This honor came with several consequences. This month previously had only 30 days in it, for instance. To boost August to 31 days, the senate had to take one from another month. Since February was already short at 29 days, they just took another one from it leaving it at 28 days. Second, that arrangement left July, August, and September all at 31 days. To "demote" September and avoid a season of long months, they switched around the days in the remaining months of the year. They left September at 30 days, with alternating 30/31 days for the other months. Other emperors tried this same grab at calendar immortality. For a while, April was renamed after Nero, and May was renamed after Claudius. Their "fame", however, did not last.
So what is the point of today's blog post?
I want to use the month of August to combat self-aggrandizement. I was inspired by this article to solicit feedback with criticism of my own blog posts. Are my posts hard to read, are they too obscure, are they too dense, are they too opinionated, are they too heavy on links? I've written before that I expect people to correct me on points where I am wrong. I don't usually go out of my way to invite feedback, though. After several years, I never participated in that Livejournal meme to solicit questions about the author during a particular month. Here I am attempting to create a new meme on Dreamwidth, however, that uses the month of August to invite feedback that might help benefit the quality of future posts. I suggest the name of "Fighting August" with the rich connotations available to that title.
I promise not to argue with the criticism. :)
Julius Ceasar was assassinated in 15 March 44 BCE. He then posthumously adopted his grand-nephew named Octavius. Octavius took a new name at this point, later became a Roman emperor, and eventually received the additional name of "Augustus" (meaning "the revered one") by the Roman senate. Augustus earned fame in his own right, but he was saddled with the history and comparisons to Julius Ceasar. Eventually the Senate agreed to honor Augustus by naming a month after him. They placed his month immediately after Julius Ceasar's month (because no one can overshadow Julius Ceasar), and by giving him the same number of days (so Augustus is not viewed as less capable than Julius).
This honor came with several consequences. This month previously had only 30 days in it, for instance. To boost August to 31 days, the senate had to take one from another month. Since February was already short at 29 days, they just took another one from it leaving it at 28 days. Second, that arrangement left July, August, and September all at 31 days. To "demote" September and avoid a season of long months, they switched around the days in the remaining months of the year. They left September at 30 days, with alternating 30/31 days for the other months. Other emperors tried this same grab at calendar immortality. For a while, April was renamed after Nero, and May was renamed after Claudius. Their "fame", however, did not last.
So what is the point of today's blog post?
I want to use the month of August to combat self-aggrandizement. I was inspired by this article to solicit feedback with criticism of my own blog posts. Are my posts hard to read, are they too obscure, are they too dense, are they too opinionated, are they too heavy on links? I've written before that I expect people to correct me on points where I am wrong. I don't usually go out of my way to invite feedback, though. After several years, I never participated in that Livejournal meme to solicit questions about the author during a particular month. Here I am attempting to create a new meme on Dreamwidth, however, that uses the month of August to invite feedback that might help benefit the quality of future posts. I suggest the name of "Fighting August" with the rich connotations available to that title.
I promise not to argue with the criticism. :)