Dates in History

August – It’s Origin, Signs & Symbols
Best known for its lazy days (the last of summer) and the beginning of the school year, August was originally called Sextillis (sex was the word for six), since under the ancient Roman calendar it was the sixth month. It was renamed for Julius Caesar’s grand-nephew Augustus, who defeated Marc Anthony and Cleopatra and became emperor of Rome. The Roman Senate decided that as a reward he should have a month named after him (especially since July was named after Julius Caesar) and chose to give him the sixth month, Sextillus, since that’s when many of his greatest accomplishments happened. The Roman Senate justified its action in this resolution:

“Whereas the Emperor Augustus Caesar, in the month of Sextillis…thrice entered the city in triumph…and in the same month Egypt was brought under the authority of the Roman people, and in the same month an end was put to the civil wars; and whereas for these reasons the said month is, and has been, most fortunate to this empire, it is hereby decreed by the Senate that the said month shall be called Augustus.”

The Senate also decided that since Julius’ month had 31 days, Augustus’ month should equal it, but under the existing calendar the months alternated evenly between 30 and 31 days (with the exception of February). By custom, this made August only 30 days. The Senate lengthened it to 31, however, to avoid any claims that Augustus’ month was in any way inferior. To do this, an extra day was taken from February, which was already shorter than the rest with 29 days normally, 30 in leap year. Now the already-short month was even shorter at a mere 28 days, a custom we keep to this day. Adjustments were also made to give September, April, June and November only 30 days, a move needed to make the 30/31 day alternation workable.

Out of all the Roman leaders, only Julius and Augustus had months permanently named after them, even though later emperors tried their best to also obtain that honor. For a while, the infamous Nero had April renamed “Neronius” in his honor, but it didn’t stick, leaving only Julius and Augustus with their names memorialized on today’s calendar.

August Signs & Symbols
Giving a piece of jewelry containing the birthstone gem for the wearer’s birth month is supposed to bring the wearer good luck and protection. August's traditional birthstone is the peridot (pronounced pear-a-doe), which is associated with love, truth, faithfulness and loyalty. Traditionally, peridot’s are reputed to possess healing properties that are effective for health problems related to the lungs, lymph nodes and sinuses. Peridots, also called the poor man’s emerald, are found in China, Burma and the U.S and are popular gemstones. The best peridot stones are a clean, pure lime-green color, without a brown or olive cast, and the chrysolite is a golden-yellow variety of the peridot. The word peridot is derived from the Greek word “faridat,” which means gem; it’s one of the few gemstones that come in only one color, and the depth of the green depends on how much iron is contained in the stone. August birth flower is the gladiola, though the poppy is also associated with the month as well. Gladiolas, which have about 260 separate species, are native to South America but can be found growing in the U.S and Europe. Although they’re also called the sword lily because of their long, sword-shaped leaves, they’re not part of the lily family.

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