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The founder of Rome, named Romulus, is credited with the creation of the Roman calendar in 753 BC. The original calendar only had 304 days or 10 months but was later revised by order of Julius Caesar. Days were named after planets associated with gods and goddesses. Monday was the moon day; Tuesday was Mars’ day; Wednesday was Mercury’s day; Thursday was Jupiter’s day; Friday was Venus’ day; Saturday was Saturn’s day; and Sunday was the Lord’s Day or the day of rest.

In the Roman calendar, days were marked with special names and letters. They were categorized as the Kalends, Nones, and Ides. The Kalends is constant and is the first day of each month; the Nones is moveable between the fifth and seventh day of the month; and the Ides can either be the thirteenth or fifteenth day of the month. In this ancient calendar, all days are designated with a letter and may either be one of the letters from A to H. The letter F represents dies fasti or the day of litigation; the letter C stands for dies comitialis or the day when people vote on political and judicial matters; and the letter N means no litigation and no voting day. Every 9^th day was considered Market Day or the Nundinae and the days between were called a nundinum. During Market Day, people would come to the city to buy their goods to last until the next cycle.

During the ancient times, the Romans enjoyed many holidays. In fact, most of them are still being celebrated today.

• The Floralia was an ancient celebration held from April 27^th to May 3^rd with many theatrical presentations and festivities, in honor of the Roman goddess of flowers.
• Although the Lupercalia is now otherwise known as Valentine’s Day, in ancient Rome, it was 3 days of festivities, starting on the 13^th of February, to drive away evil spirits from the city.
• The All Fools’ Day was originally celebrated on the first day of January. It was eventually moved to April 1^st and is now known as April Fools’ Day
• In Ancient Rome, the Lent is a 9-day fasting period starting every March 15^th
• The Entry of the Tree, otherwise known as Palm Sunday, was celebrated on a moveable Sunday in March and April.
• The Festival of Joy, known as Easter Sunday now, was celebrated on a moveable date between March and April.
• The Saturnalia and Halcyon Days, equivalent to Christmas today, was a 7 to 11 day celebration starting from December 17^th up to the 28^th.
• The Roman New Year’s Day was celebrated on March 15^th initially but it was moved to January 1^st in 153 BC. Today, it’s known as New Year’s Day.
• The Festival of Mars was a celebration marked from February 27^th to March 14^th with horse races and military gala taking center stage during these days.

The Julian calendar and eventually, the Gregorian calendar replaced the Roman calendar. Although it looked a bit complex , the Roman calendar had been instrumental to the development of the calendar we use today.