XIX.  One proof that the Romans used to reckon ten months and not twelve in the year is the name of the last month; for up to the present day it is called December, the tenth, and the order of the months shows that March was the first, for the fifth month from it they called Quintilis, the fifth; and the sixth month Sextilis, and so on for the others, although, by their putting January and February before March, it resulted that the month which they number fifth is really seventh in order.  Moreover, there is a legend that the month of March, being the first, was dedicated by Romulus to Mars, and the second, April, to Aphrodite (Venus); in which month they sacrifice to this goddess, and the women bathe on the first day of it crowned with myrtle.  Some, however, say that April is not named after Aphrodite, because the word April does not contain the letter h, and that it comes from the Latin word aperio, and means the month in which the spring-time opens the buds of plants; for that is what the word signifies.  Of the following months, May is named after Maia, the mother of Hermes or Mercury, for it is dedicated to her, and June from Juno.  Some say that these names signify old age and youth, for old men are called by the Latins majores, and young men juniores.  The remaining months they named, from the order in which they came, the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth:  Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November, December.  Then Quintilis was called Julius after Julius Caesar, who conquered Pompeius; and Sextilis was called Augustus, after the second of the Roman Emperors.  The next two months Domitian altered to his own titles, but not for any long time, as after his death they resumed their old names of September and October.  The last two alone have preserved their original names without change.  Of the months, added or altered by Numa, Februarius means the month of purification, for that is as nearly as possible the meaning of the word, and during it they sacrifice to the dead, and hold the festival of the Lupercalia, which resembles a ceremony of purification.  The first month, Januarius, is named after Janus.  My opinion is, that Numa moved the month named after Mars from its precedence, wishing the art of good government to be honoured before that of war.  For Janus in very ancient times was either a deity or a king, who established a social polity, and made men cease from a savage life like that of wild beasts.  And for this reason his statues are made with a double face, because he turned men’s way of life from one form to another.