Infinitum posted:

quote:

Why do they adopt the month of January as the beginning of the new year?

The fact is that, in ancient days, March was counted before January, as is clear from many different proofs, and particularly from the fact that the fifth month from March is called Quintilis, the sixth Sextilis, and so on to the last, which they call December, since it is the tenth in order from March. Wherefore it has also naturally occurred to some to believe and to maintain that the ancient Romans completed their year, not in twelve months, but in ten, by adding more days than thirty to some of the months. Others state that December is the tenth from March, January the eleventh, and February the twelfth; and in this month they perform rites of purification and make offerings to the dead, since it is the end of the year. But the order of these months was altered, so they say, and January was put first because in this month on the day of the new moon, which they call the Kalends of January, the first consuls entered office after the kings had been expelled.

But more worthy of credence are they who maintain that it was because Romulus was a warrior and a lover of battle, and was thought to be a son of Mars, that he placed first the month which bore Mars' name. But Numa, in turn, who was a lover of peace, and whose ambition it was to turn the city towards husbandry and to divert it from war, gave the precedence to January and advanced the god Janus to great honours, since Janus​ was a statesman and a husbandman rather than a warrior. But consider whether Numa may not have adopted as the beginning of the year that which conforms to our conception of the natural beginning. Speaking generally, to be sure, there is not naturally either last or first in a cycle; and it is by custom that some adopt one beginning of this period and others another. They do best, however, who adopt the beginning after the winter solstice, when the sun has ceased to advance, and turns about and retraces his course toward us. For this beginning of the year is in a certain way natural to mankind, since it increases the amount of light that we receive and decreases the amount of darkness, and brings nearer to us the lord and leader of all mobile matter.

grieving for Gandalf posted:

are there real video games coming out this month

Infinitum posted:

I can't believe Augustus was stabbed peacefully in his sleep.

cheetah7071 posted:

this post gets a lot of the details wrong and I'm mad at it

Augustus died peacefully in his bed, and also the two months were added far before either of them--they just renamed them. Caesar renamed the seventh month from Quintilis to July. The names were already hosed up

From Plutarch's Roman Questions:

tl;dr at least some ancient Romans believed that originally, March was the first month, and the numbers made sense. Then they got renumbered but kept their names.

Booky posted:

i have a hot question for u all:

is september summer or fall?

Booky posted:

i have a hot question for u all:

is september summer or fall?

Stux posted:

thhere is not a strict deliniation between seasons that can be summed up by months or days. each season change is noticed in retrospect when a consistent series of days has appeared with weather that marks the turning of the season. peace be withy ou.

Gaius Marius posted:

Solstices and equinoxes block your path

Gaius Marius posted:

Solstices and equinoxes block your path

Zil posted:

Aw thanks, what did you get us?

Willo567 posted:

oh poo poo i forgot cruisn blast comes out this month

Stux posted:

i dont believe in astrology

Waffleman_ posted:

Those ellipses in the corner are doing some heavy lifting.

FirstAidKite posted:

This guy don't give a gently caress what you think stux

Kerrzhe posted:

wait they're still making cruisn' games??

FirstAidKite posted:

This guy don't give a gently caress what you think stux

FirstAidKite posted:

This guy don't give a gently caress what you think stux

Mix. posted:

i cant believe you'd post this and not share the loving intro theme, composed by the same guy who made that one pictionary NES track that people went apeshit for:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_gObHt1uZA

Waffleman_ posted:

I gotta tell you guys bout this wild-rear end news story out of my city.

So this high school football team from Columbus plays a game against a school from Florida, televised on ESPN. Blown the gently caress out, 58-0. And while this is happening, the announcers are like "Well they said they had a lot of Division I prospects on their roster, but we couldn't really verify it and it's weird that they're doing so bad."

So a bit of digging was done and

This school may not loving exist.

They have three addresses listed in different places, one of which is a PO box, one of which is a sports complex, and one of which is a whole other university.

Mix. posted:

i cant believe you'd post this and not share the loving intro theme, composed by the same guy who made that one pictionary NES track that people went apeshit for:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_gObHt1uZA

CharlieFoxtrot posted:

My favorite "game composer goes ham on something completely incongruous" is Unused Song 2 from The Flintstones by Dean Evans

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRF_7xsu10c

Zil posted:

What the hell? Just roving bands of high school football players that go around losing games? I'm guessing some kind of tax scam.