我們都知道中國有“陰歷”，但早期的羅馬人也是用月亮的陰晴圓缺來定日期的，每個月份的長短是由政治家決定的。他們偷偷延長自己任期的月份，縮短對手的任期，致使日期一度陷入混亂。直到凱撒出現，才解決了這個問題，并固定了“陽歷”。

The early Romans used the moon as a guide to measure the months. That led to a twelve-month year that came up short, with only 355 days. To keep the four seasons at the right time, the habit of occasionally adding extra weeks and days began. But corrupt public officials used this as an advantage. They began to change the calendar to lengthen their own terms in office and shorten the terms of detested rivals. So they were in fact stealing time to selfishly expand their own political purposes.

早期的羅馬人利用月亮的圓缺和位置作為向導來推測月份。這種推測方法使得一年十二個月變短了，只有355天。為了跟上四季的變化，人們開始習慣于在每個季節偶爾加上額外的幾天，甚至幾個星期。但腐敗的公職人員卻以此來撈取好處。他們開始修改日歷，延長他們的任期，而縮短他們所憎惡的對手的任期。因此，實際上，他們是為了一己私欲，擴大自己的政治目的。

By 46 B.C., the Roman year was more than two whole months off the actual date. That is when the leader of the Romans - Julius Caesar - took charge and invented a new solar calendar. This resulted in a year that is 365 days long. He also changed New Year's Day from the start of March to January 1, and added one extra day every four years. Rivals complained that Caesar was not satisfied in ruling the earth, but had to control the heavens as well.

直到公元前46年，羅馬一年比實際天數多了整整兩個月。也就在那一年，掌管羅馬的領導人朱利尤斯?愷撒發明了一種新的紀年法——陽歷。從此，一年就按365天計算。同時，他把元旦由原來的3月1日改為1月1日，而且每四年加一天。愷撒的對手抱怨道：愷撒統領地球還不夠，還要控制天堂。

To bring the calendar back to normal, Caesar plunked two extra months to the year 46 B.C between November and December and three weeks between February and March. The consequence was a year that no one had seen before - 445 days long! This year in Rome was forever known as the “year of confusion,” but Caesar himself was quick to point out that it was actually the year the confusion came to an end.

為把日歷帶回到正常的軌道上來，愷撒在公元前46年的11月和12月之間重重地加上了2 個月，而在2月和3月之間加上了3周。結果導致公元前46年有445天之多，這是人們之前從來沒有看見過的。羅馬人永遠都知道這一年是一個“混亂年”，但是愷撒自己很快指出那一年實際上是紀年混亂的結束年。

 

（來源：譯索網 實習生許雅寧 英語點津 Yvonne 編輯）

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