Jim Wowchuk wrote:
...........................................................
>
>So as the first emperor to adopt the Christian religion, by 392 or 393AD the
>days had names: dies Solis, dies Lunae, dies Martis, dies Mercurii, dies
>Iovis, dies Veneris, dies Saturni.
>
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I don't understand this.  These names are mainly associated with the Roman
Gods,.  Why would they have been adopted by a Christian emperor?  Surely
they were there previously?
dies Solis               day of the Sun
dies Lunae             day of the Moon
dies Martis             day of Mars
dies Mercurii          day of Mercury
dies Iovis               day of Jupiter
dies Veneris           day of Venus
dies Saturni             day of Saturn

Mostly  these names are retained in French
lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, samedi; dimanche is an exception
(maybe Denys can help with this one - the only translation I can come up
with is day of the sleeve, which doesn't make much sense!).
English names are similarly named after Anglo-Saxon Gods (or so I was
taught in school):
Sun(day), Moon(day), Tuesday (I don't remember), Wodin's(day), Thor's(day),
Frieda's(day), and Saturn's(day) (an exception, from the Latin).


John D. Alleyn-Day
Alleyn-Day International
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