any fixed rule, to complete the solar year with as much accuracy as was practicable in the then state of knowledge. These additional days, although comprising a sixth part of the whole year, like the Alban or Latin anonymous months, had not any name assigned to them; and they were yet more imperfect by not consisting of any certain or determinate number; all that ROMULUS endeavoured to attain was, that his first month, which he settled to commence about the vernal equinox, might correspond with the appearance of the heavens at that time.

SCALIGER, speaking from the authorities of LUCINIUS, MACER, and FENESTELLA, and having these intercalary days in view, affirms that the Roman year never consisted of less than 12 months; but there are too many testimonies, such as MACROBIUS, Varro, Ovid, CENSORINUS, and others, against him; though it must be admitted, that notwithstanding only ten months were specifically named by ROMULUS, he certainly made use of days sufficient to compose the two additional months, which after his time were combined with the ten already established: and it was by

NUMA POMPILIUS, the immediate successor of ROMULUS, that the supplementary days were actu-ally formed into two additional months for the purpose of correcting and reforming the calendar. These months he placed before Martius, making his year to commence on the first of Januarius, to

which he gave priority; and, regulating the number of days appropriated to those two months and to the former ten, by the Grecian model, he made them alternately to consist of 30 and 29 days: But shortly afterwards, from a superstitious idea of an odd number which is alleged to have been imbibed from the EGYPTIANS, another day was added to the first month of the new calendar. It seems, however, inconsistent with the character of NUMA to assign this augmentation to so weak and puerile a motive; however tainted with idolatry mankind in general were in those days, NUMA seems to have been superior to many of the errors of his time. Disgusted with what he justly considered an absurd practice of the people, who bowed to the workmanship of human ingenuity, he proscribed all visible representations of their deities, and from his example and influence idolatry was discontinued during the whole of his reign. Yet there would charge, when it

appear some reason for such is considered that he altered his original year from 354 days, which before corresponded with the twelve lunations or lunar year, to 355 days. A superstitious regard was indeed not only paid to odd numbers, throughout the whole of the Roman Empire until its downfall, but has been preserved even to the present day in this country, and in all others wherever the Roman power prevailed.

The primitive and sacred division of time was, as already explained, by months of 30 days; but the Greeks finding a lunation to consist of only about 29 days, amended their calendar by depriving every other month throughout their year of one day of its original complement: and NUMA appears to have been actuated by a similar motive in the formation of his original calendar, which subsequently, however, he made to consist of

NUMA was conscious that, even by this emendation, he had not been able to adjust the year; so that he might commence regularly at the winter solstice. To remedy the defect, he ordered 22 days to be intercalated every 2nd year, 23 days every 4th year, 22 days every 6th year, and 23 days every 8th year, as was practised by the Greeks; all which interpositions were made in

February, and the month named in consequence, "MARCIDONIUS, or the Intercalary FEBRUARY." This rule, however, failing of its object, it was thought proper to add only 15 days every 8th year instead of 23.

The fasti calendarii were invented by NUMA for making known to his subjects all matters relative to their feasts and ceremonies of every description, somewhat in the manner of our present almanacks, and were placed under the control of the PONTIFEX MAXIMUS, whose office was instituted also by that monarch; but from ignorance, or, as some assert, by design, the year was suf fered to run into great irregularity. NUMA did not disturb the names given by ROMULUS to his ten months, though he altered their rank in the series; hence the apparent absurdity of the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th months in his calendar, bearing the names of the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th,which they still retain.

For several centuries the Roman calendar was governed by NUMA's amendment; at length the DECEMVIRS threw it into great perplexity, by rendering the months more unequal in the number of days of which they before consisted, without remedying the inaccuracy well known to exist in the total number required to form a solar year: viz.

But it is to be remarked, that several authorities state NUMA's year to have been composed precisely of the unequal number of days alleged by others to the Decemvirs; and that those magistrates merely made February the second month of the year instead of the last, where those authors affirm it to have been placed by NUMA.

As NUMA, however, is generally understood to have formed his calendar after the Grecian model, it is more than probable that the Decemvirs, and not NUMA, are justly chargeable with having made the months to revert to nearly their former inequality; while it must be confessed, that there is some reason to doubt, whether the Decemvirs or NUMA made February the second month, though the most prevalent belief assigns that regulation to NUMA.