Expert: Maria - 11/24/2008

Question
How do you write August 22, 2009 in Latin?

Answer
Hello,

August 22, 2009 is written as follows:

-"A.D.XI KAL.SEPT.MMIX p.Chr.n." (shortened date)

-"Ante diem undecimum Kalendas Septembres anno bis millesimo nono post Christum natum"  (full date)

They both mean :“The 11th day before the Kalends of September in the year 2009  after the birth of Christ”

See below for learning more.

Best regards,
Maria
________________________________________________________________

Note that  in the Roman calendar only three days  of each month had specific names. Here are these special dates:

-Kalends (Latin KALENDAE) which fell always on the 1st. day  of the month.

-Nones  (Latin NONAE) which fell usually on the 5th day, except March, May, July and October, when they fell on the 7th.

-Ides (Latin IDUS ) which fell usually on the 13th, except March, May, July  and October, when they fell on the 15th.

If the date  was different from  these special days, the Romans counted how many days  there were before the next special day.

For example the date August 22 corresponds to 11 days before the Kalends, i.e. before the 1st. September, since the Romans used an inclusive counting and  then counted every day from August 22  to   September 1 (Kalends),  i.e. 22-23-24-25-26-27-28-29-30-31-1.

Finally, when the date was the day before or after  the Kalends, Nones and Ides, the Romans  used the preposition ‘pridie’ (meaning “the day before” ) or “postridie” (meaning “the day after”) followed by the accusative case.

For example “Pridie Nonas Augustas” for  August 4, as August 4 was just the day before the Nones which fell on August 5.