How the month of July got its name

This is my month. I was born on a day in 19 forgotten. We are now in the age of Macron-Brigitte – age does not matter. It is only a number. So I begin at the age I think my brain tells me. That age does not change. It stops at the age your mind chooses to be. For me, it is the age of 20. At 20 I finished what they call college studies but it is the opposite with me. I never liked school. I just had to because my parents were conformist. 

That early I was craving for my freedom to be what I wanted to be although I looked and acted ‘social’ or in today’s idiom ‘sosyal.’ 

Truth to tell my happiest moments were being alone and introspective. Year after year I’ve struggled to be myself. It is not easy when all around you, others are also being themselves and you are not one of them. So when my children ask me what is my goal in life, I say only that – to be myself and that is the hardest of all to learn because of the many things that come in the way of what you are. 

That said, I was glad to know that July, unlike June, is named for a mortal. It is the month named after Julius Caesar who devised and ruled an empire. Julius Caesar was a Roman general, statesman, and historian who conquered Gaul (what is now part of Italy, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands), changed the structure of the Roman government into a dictatorship, was assassinated in legendary fashion, and most importantly for our purposes, helped make the calendar what it is today.

Caesar is responsible for the year as we know it having 365 days, and for the existence of a leap year every four years. How did this Julian Calendar change things? The early Roman calendar had an intercalary month called Intercalans that was 27 or 28 days long, added once every two years after February 23rd. For years including Intercalans, the remaining five days of February were omitted. Our contemporary calendar is still pretty much the same system Caesar instituted more than 2000 years ago.

July was named in honor of Julius Caesar. When Julius Caesar died, Quintilis, which was his birth month, was renamed with July. Quintilis means “fifth month” in Latin, which represents where this month originally fell in the Roman calendar.

Another of Julius Caesar’s legacies is the C section. The Caesarian section is “an operation by which a fetus is taken from the uterus by cutting through the walls of the abdomen and uterus.” It is thought that Julius Caesar himself was born in this way. (Sourced from Wikipedia).

I was also born by Caesarian section.

Miscellany

This is a plug I am happy to make. Instituto Cervantes celebrates the 80th anniversary of Picasso’s Guernica with films and art lecture. I never understood the greatness of the painting. It looked more like caricature. But through the years, I think I can see why Picasso painted Guernica in that way. War is caricature.

‘Eighty years ago, on the 12th of July 1937, Picasso’s “Guernica” was exposed to the public for the first time. To commemorate this historical event, Instituto Cervantes, the cultural center of the Embassy of Spain, in collaboration with FDCP and Ayala Museum, has programed a film series and a lecture associated to the famous painting and the historical period when it was created.

On April 26, 1937, the German aviation bombarded the Basque town of Guernica. Moved by the tragic event that caused many civilian casualties, Picasso, who had been commissioned by the government of the Republic to produce a painting for the Spanish Pavilion at the 1937 Paris International Exposition, decided to name his work after the Basque town. A masterpiece of 20th century painting, Guernica was exposed to the public for the first time on July 12, 1937.

Presented by Instituto Cervantes, the embassy of Spain and the FDCP, the film series “Spain in the times of Picasso’s Guernica” aims to offer a cinematic vision of the turbulent history of that decade. The cycle will be held every Saturday of July at 6 pm at the FDCP Cinematheque (855 T.M. Kalaw, Ermita, Manila).

The cycle will kick off on July 1 with the feature film El viaje de Carol (Carol’s Journey). Carol is a 12-year-old Spanish-American girl from New York who travels to Spain with her mother in the spring of 1938. Carol arrives in her mother’s home village and transforms the secretive family environment. Her innocence and rebellious nature make her reject a war-stricken world that is new to her.

The film series will continue on July 8, 6 pm, with the viewing of La lengua de las mariposas (Butterfly’s Tongue), directed by José Luis Cuerda in 1999. The film, based on several short stories written by the Galician author Manuel Rivas, is set in Spain in 1936. It explores the relationship between a young boy and his incredibly compassionate teacher, who teaches the kid to find his way in a world that is increasingly frightening. La lengua de las mariposas bagged more than 20 international awards and nominations – among them, the Goya Award to the Best Screenplay.

 The following Saturday, July 15, at 6 pm, the documentary Raza, el espíritu de Franco (Race, the Spirit of Franco) will be featured. Directed by Gonzalo Herralde in 1977, this documentary produced after the dictator Francisco Franco's death, includes interviews with the dictator's sister and the actor who played the leading role in the Franco-inspired film Raza.

On July 22, 6 pm, the audience will have the opportunity to see a short documentary that has become a classic –Luis Buñuel’s Tierra sin pan (Land Without Bread).  Produced in 1933, the film recounts Buñuel’s journey to Las Hurdes, a remote region in Extremadura, which was connected to the outside world only in 1922 with the completion of a road. The residents of the area – spread across several villages – had to endure miserable lives in poverty and isolation from the outside world. The program for the day will be completed by the feature film Alsasua 1936, directed by Helena Taberna in 1994.

Directed by Pilar Pérez in 2013, the documentary Las maestras de la República will conclude the movie series on July 29 at 6pm. This film, awarded with the Goya for Best Documentary in 2014, reflects the role of several female teachers, their effort to establish democracy in the country, and how they were key in the years between 1931 and 1936.