Expert: Maria - 6/29/2010

Question
how would you write the date March 29, 1929?
would they spell out dates like March twenty ninth nineteen twenty nine or do they use roman numerals?
also can you answer the same question to October 27, 1947

Answer
Hello,

here are the Latin  dates you asked me:

A.D.IV KAL.APR. MCMXXIX p.Chr.n.  [March 29, 1929]

A.D.VI KAL.NOV. MCMXLVII  p.Chr.n. [October 27, 1947]

The above dates are shortened, according to Latin usage.

Anyway here they are in full :

-“Ante Diem quartum Kalendas Apriles Anno millesimo nongentesimo vigesimo nono post Christum natum “(March 29, 1929) meaning “the 4th day before the Kalends of April  in the year one thousandth  ninetieth  hundredth twenty-ninth after the birth of Christ).

-“Ante Diem sextum Kalendas Novembres Anno millesimo nongentesimo quadragesimo septimo p. Chr. n. ” (October 27, 1947) meaning “the 6th day before the Kalends of November  in the year one thousandth  ninetieth  hundredth fortieth seventh 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 they are:

-Kalends (Latin KALENDAE) which were always on the FIRST of the month.

-Nones (Latin NONAE) which fell usually on the 5th, 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 it was not one of these “special” days, Latin needed to say how many days  there were before the next special day.
So, as both March 29 and October 27  are before the Kalends, i.e. the first day of the following month, March 29 corresponds to the 4th day before the Kalends of April  and October 29 corresponds to  the 6th day before the Kalends of November, since the Romans used an inclusive counting and thus  counted every day from 29 March or 27 October  to April 1st. or November 1st. (Kalends).
That is 29-30-31-1 (four days) for March 29  and 27-28-29-30-31-1(six days) for October 27 .