The Romans did not number days of a month sequentially from the first through the last day. Instead, they counted back from three fixed points of the month: the Nones (5th or 7th, depending on the length of the month), the Ides (13th or 15th), and the Kalends (1st) of the following month. The Ides occurred near the midpoint, on the 13th for most months, but on the 15th for March, May, July, and October. The Ides were supposed to be determined by the full moon, reflecting the lunar origin of the Roman calendar. On the earliest calendar, the Ides of March would have been the first full moon of the new year.[2]
So
there you have it today s the ides of October
Just
another piece of useless information
I’m
reading a book called Mud Beneth My Boots. By Allan Marriott. I spotted it in
the local library when I was browsing through the shelves looking for books set
in the time my grandfather would have been at war 1914 1918.
The
sub heading on the front page caught my eye.
A poignant memoir of the effects of
war on a young New Zealander
So of course I had to borrow it.
I’m
always interested in reading about the experiences of real people rather than
dry history books. And this one certainly fits the bill. And not only that ,
The Man’s grandfather was a member of the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces
"Fit the bill" appears to be a variation: the Oxford
English Dictionary notes printed use of the expression "to fill the
bill" as early as 1861; they expound its meaning as, "to fulfil the
necessary requirements; to come up to the requisite standard" - a
"bill" can have been any kind of written document, not only
theatrical but any sort of advertisement, invoice, inventory, shipping label,
sale catalogue, membership list, etc. etc.
I
can certainly recommend it if you are at all interested in the era.
No comments:
Post a Comment