|
|
Encyclopedia entry: calendars
- Article from:
- The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature
- Author:
Copyright© The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature 1996, originally published by Oxford University Press 1996. (Hide copyright information)
|
calendars
Virtually all peoples have used the lunar month as a measure of time, although, since this period comprises 29 ½ days, the months inaugurated by each new moon cannot contain a constant number of whole days. The succession of seasons is determined by the yearly cycle of the earth around the sun in roughly 365¼ days, that is, the solar year, which is about eleven days longer than twelve lunar months. Hence, when the solar year is divided into twelve months, the beginning of each month cannot in general correspond exactly with the appearance of the new moon.
The Greek calendar
All Greek states had a civil year of twelve months with 29 and 30 days alternately, each month ...