ivals, or days that were to be kept
sacred during the month. The Ides (from an obsolete verb _iduare_, to
divide) were at the middle of the month, either the 13th or the 15th day;
and the Nones were the _ninth_ day before the [v.04 p.0989] Ides, counting
inclusively. From these three terms the days received their denomination in
the following manner:--Those which were comprised between the Calends and
the Nones were called _the days before the Nones_; those between the Nones
and the Ides were called _the days before the Ides_; and, lastly, all the
days after the Ides to the end of the month were called _the days before
the Calends_ of the succeeding month. In the months of March, May, July and
October, the Ides fell on the 15th day, and the Nones consequently on the
7th; so that each of these months had six days named from the Nones. In all
the other months the Ides were on the 13th and the Nones on the 5th;
consequently there were only four days named from the Nones. Every month
had eight days named from the Ides. The number of days receiving their
denomination from the Calends depended on the number of days in the month
and the day on which the Ides fell. For example, if the month contained 31
days and the Ides fell on the 13th, as was the case in January, August and
December, there would remain 18 days after the Ides, which, added to the
first of the following month, made 19 days of Calends. In January,
therefore, the 14th day of the month was called the _nineteenth before the
Calends of February_ (counting inclusively), the 15th was the 18th before
the Calends and so on to the 30th, which was called the third before the
Calend (_tertio Calendas_), the last being the second of the Calends, or
the day before the Calends (_pridie Calendas_).

+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| | March. | | April. | |
|Days of| May. | January. | June. | |
| the | July. | August. | September. | February. |
| Month.| October. | December. | November. | |
+-------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| 1 | Calendae. | Calendae. | Calendae. | Calendae. |
| 2 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | 4 |Prid. Nonas.|Prid. Nonas.|Prid. Nonas.|
| 5 | 3 | Nonae. | Nonae. |