Julius Caesar Month
If it weren’t for Julius Caesar, we would now be enjoying the dog days of summer during the months of Quintilis and Sextilis. However, the Julian calendar, designed by mathematician and astronomer Sosigenes, turned a 10-month calendar into a 12-month calendar. In 44 B.C. the Romans renamed Quintilis as Iulius (July), in honor of Julius Caesar. Then in 8 B.C., they renamed Sextilis as Augustus (August), in honor of his Julius’ nephew, Augustus. That said, Happy Quintilis!
In 48 B.C. Julius Caesar, a tremendous military man and political leader, chased his son-in-law, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey), into Alexandria. After Caesar’s daughter, Julia, passed away, Pompey sided with the conservative faction of the Roman Senate. Unhappy with his son-in-law taking liberties and combatting him for the leadership of the Roman state, Caesar entered into a civil war with Pompey in Pharsalus, Greece. Though outnumbered by Pompey’s troops, Caesar won the battle, claimed victory, and forced Pompey to flee into hiding in Alexandria, Egypt.
Caesar was not just a great warrior; he was also a man of great publicity and dramatic flair. He may not have been an academic, but he understood the power of propaganda. Thus, he followed Pompey…
