M. Porcius Cato Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 Magnificent piece of scholarship in the Journal of Roman Studies; lovely description here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaius Octavius Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 I am sure that you will correct me if I am wrong. This looks like two leap years in four to me: "Julius Caesar reorganised the Roman calendar. Unfortunately there was a mix up with his instructions. Caesar said to insert a leap year every four years. Unfortunately the priests counted inclusively, so they were inserting leap years like this: * Year One - leap year * Year Two - standard year * Year Three - standard year * Year Four - fourth year so must be a leap year" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Porcius Cato Posted January 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 I am sure that you will correct me if I am wrong. This looks like two leap years in four to me It's not quite as bad as that (it's 1 in 3). So, you follow their error, it goes: 123412341234, and then the sequence repeats. That's 4 leap years (in bold) in 12 years, or 1 every 3 years (non-inclusive!). Anyway, this kind of error answers Cato the Elder's famous question, "How do two priests meet each other in the street and not fall over laughing?"" Answer: they're too damn stupid to get the joke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaius Octavius Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 I can go to Hades in peace now! I got something almost right at last! Anyway, one may tell a leap year if it is divisible by four - except for some centennial years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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