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While out walking the other day, I wondered why the new year begins January 1.  Why was not some other month or day chosen?  For example, it could be tied to some significant seasonal event, like the vernal equinox in mid-March.  Less than two weeks after the official start of winter, we start the a new year, rather than start the year with some change of season, or some other month. The start of spring, it seems to me, would have some logic.  In the case of the date to start the new year, its association with the vernal equinox already occurred--I am 4,000 years too late.

The first recorded celebration of the new year is in Mesopotamia in 2,000 BC, and was believed to relate to the vernal equinox. While other cultures would use dates related to the seasons, the season varied. For example, the Egyptians, Persians, and Phoenicians all used the autumn equinox as the start date of a new year.  So, instead of welcoming spring and longer days, they welcomed the coming of shorter days. Much of our western cultural heritage is derived from Greek and/or Roman culture.  The original Roman calendar had ten months, and we can tell this by the terminology we still use today for our months.  September is from the Latin for seven, October for eight, and so on, until December which derives from a Latin term for ten.  January and February would not be added to the calendar until about 700 BC, giving us 12 months in a year.  However, it was not until 153 BC that the month of January was first recognized as the start of the new year, but it would take another 110 years for that to be codified by none other than the powerful and great Oz of the time--Julius Caesar.

(Google images)

Julius Caesar's calendar was promulgated in 46 BC.  His calendar, for the Roman Empire, was based on solar rather than lunar systems. He liked the month of January, named after the Roman God Janus who had two faces, one looking back and one looking forward, as a symbol for the start of the new year. Some sources say Jan 1 was set by Caesar, but National Geographic, in commenting on a tradition in the Ukraine, says the end of the year in the Julian Calendar was January 13, making January 14 the start of each year. This may be a simple relational issue of the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, meaning Jan 1 of the Julian calendar is equal to Jan 14 of the Gregorian calendar.

Roman Empire (Google images)

Showing the brutality of his rule, Julius Caesar celebrated the declaration of his new calendar by ordering the routing of revolutionary Jewish forces in Galilee.  Drunken orgies with Romans and their togas, would replace such direct violent rampages, as the empire would celebrate the end of one and beginning of another year.  In the 4th century AD, even as the Roman Empire started to adopted Christianity, toga parties would continue to prevail in celebration of the new year. Romans apparently knew how to party, a level of which is perhaps equaled only by that at UW-Madison. Christian sects would attempt to counter this heavy-level party atmosphere by setting January 1 as the celebration of the circumcision of Christ and the day of his naming.  The celebration of his circumcision is only celebrated today in a couple faith traditions.  In the US today, Catholics celebrate January 1 as the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God.  It does seem a little odd to celebrate a circumcision, not to mention trying to use that feast to temper the party atmosphere.  One can just imagine the jokes. Perhaps, that was the best they could in about the 4th century AD.

February comes from the Latin Februarius which means to purify.  After the hearty parties of late December and their New Year's Day celebrations, the Romans desired to promote righteous living and would use the month of February as sort of purification to reach that goal. The Romans had a purification ritual that occurred on the full moon of that month.  Perhaps, they thought, having such a ritual would keep the werewolves at bay.  It would seem righteous living saw a decline in the Roman Empire.  When thinking of righteous rulers Nero (Emperor 54-68 AD), and Caligula (Emperor 37-41 AD), to name but two, would not come to the minds of most reasonable persons.  Needless to day, the purification ritual to promote righteousness did not abet a number of Roman rulers.

However, even though many Christian holy days were related to pagan feasts (think All Saints day and Christmas), January 1 was abolished by the Council of Trent (567) as the start of the new year due to its relation to pagan celebrations.  Following this proclamation, celebration of the new year  would shift, but it differed by nations or cultural groups.  Some areas tied it to Christmas, others to March 1 and still others to mid to late March, and the holy day recognizing the feast of the Annunciation, March 25.  As Christmas is close to the winter solstice, the Feast of the Annunciation is close to the vernal equinox.

(Google images)

Pope Gregory the Great, about a 1000 years following the Council of Trent, would establish what we know as the Gregorian calendar.  This is the calendar most of the world uses today.  Established in 1582, this calendar would restore January 1 as the start of the new year.  Most Catholic-oriented countries would adopt the calendar in short order, but it would only realize gradual adoption in countries with Protestant rulers or majorities.  In fact, Britain, and its colonies, would not adopt that calendar until 1752.  Until the adoption of that calendar, Britain and its American colonies would celebrate the start of the new year in March.  It is hard to think of the Puritans as celebrating anything, much less the start of a new year.

(Google images)

In Israel, the new year is celebrated in accord with the Jewish calendar, which is based on a lunar system, meaning that it occurred last summer with Rosh Hashanah.  So if you are in Israel, chances are you will work tomorrow.  Even though the main everyday calendar in use in Israel is the Gregorian calendar, they call New Year's Eve, "The Sylvester", after Pope Sylvester I who died on Dec 31.  To retain their Jewish identity, Israel prefers to retain the start of the new year according to their tradition. While it may not be officially celebrated, many Israeli's, particularly those in Tel Aviv which tends to orient to the west, will mark the event and then dutifully trudge off to work that day.

Prayers at the Wailing Wall, Jerusalem (April 2013)

 To the east of Israel are states that can be rather hostile to the celebration aspect of New Year's Day.  A conservative cleric in Saudi Arabia has noted that neither Christmas or New Year's Day are to be celebrated, although the prohibition apparently is not as strong against ringing in the new year; the reason is that the two are are non-Muslim holidays.  Some nation's, such as China, Taiwan, and  even the Islamic sultanate of Brunei have January 1 as a public holiday.  For some reason, January 1 is thought of in Muslim, and Jewish cultures as a Christian feast day. So there are exceptions to every rule, yet it is the most celebrated holiday worldwide.   Of course, if we were going by the Mayan Calendar, a new year would be every 400 years; but then again the world would have ended on my 55th birthday, and I know that did not happen since I celebrated my 56th birthday.

Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem (April 2013)

Regardless of what Christian feast day may be associated with January 1, it has failed to end, although it has tempered, the level of New Year celebrations, as many celebrations today would probably be put to shame by the Roman toga party.  As the Gregorian calendar has become the most adopted calendar in the world, the natural cross-cultural appeal to celebrate New Year's Day makes it the world's biggest party day of the year.  Whether or not you go to bed early, or stay up and party, drink champagne, eat cannibal sandwiches, or even  take part in a toga party, one should at least spend some time to ponder and reflect on the wonders of what life presents to each of us.