September (Roman month) September (Roman month) September (from Latin "septem", "seven") or mensis September was originally the seventh of ten months on the ancient Roman calendar that began with March ("mensis Martius", "Mars' month"). It had 29 days. After the reforms that resulted in a 12-month year, September became the ninth month, but retained its name. September followed what was originally Sextilis, the "sixth" month, renamed "Augustus" in honor of the first Roman emperor, and preceded October, the "eighth" month that like September retained its numerical name contrary to its position on the calendar. A day was added to September in the mid-40s
Latin word order "five ships were burnt" but "no fewer than five ships were burnt". The use of hyperbaton (separation of words which normally go together) is also worth observing. Thus Caesar's "hae permanserunt aquae dies complures", with "hae" separated from "aquae" and "complures" at the end of the sentence, doesn't mean "These floods remained for several days" but "This time the flood waters, unlike the previous ones, remained for several days". In the past hundred years, but especially since the advent of computerised texts, Latin word order has been extensively studied, with a view to elucidating the principles on which it is