We all know that August is a wicked month, when cities empty as people head to the coast for a holiday.  In Ancient Rome, things were no different – but August was not always August in Ancient Rome.

It is though the first calendar was introduced in 753BC by King Romulus – one half of the twins who founded the city of Rome, according to myth.

 

The calendar began in March, and the month of August was originally called Sextilis, the sixth month. It was renamed in 8BC in honour of the first Emperor of Rome, Augustus (Octavian) who was the great nephew of Julius Caesar – and who had been named by Caesar as his successor, as Great Uncle Julius had no direct heirs.

The name Augustus derives from the Latin verb augere, meaning to increase – hence the associations with the name Augustus meaning “great”.

We all hope to have a great August and hopefully it might also increase so that the cooler weather in September and all that brings – end of the summer holidays, back to school, the onset of winter – is delayed for once.

To help make your holiday great, you can download all four books in the ROME ALONE series for FREE on 1/2 August, to make sure time spent on that sun lounger in August is all play and no work at all!

Happy holidays – buone vacanze!

 

 

 

Ready to go to Rome now?

Download ROME ALONE and ROME AGAIN free at Kindle Unlimited or for £2.25 each – and set off to the Eternal City for a long weekend, as unhappy housewife Bee and newly-divorced Alzheimer’s expert Dr Neil McCarthy leave from opposite ends of the country for a mini-break full of the unexpected that will change their lives forever. Return to Rome with them three years later and discover the forces at work which they never suspected on their first trip.

ROME ALONE was short-listed for the Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook’s New Novel Centenary Award.

Both books contain sexual content, adult themes and dark humour which some might find upsetting. Also scenes of shopping, gelati, vino rosso, amore and Rome.

 

Download ROME ALONE

Download ROME AGAIN

Catch up with the story in VERONA ALONE, when the action shifts to the ancient city of Verona, when former cellist Moira marks her divorce  by fulfilling a girlhood dream of visiting the city during the annual opera season. There she is taken under the wing of a generous and quirky American, who appears to have a secret.

VERONA AGAIN sees three couples fight to save their relations – who will succeed, who will fail and who will lose the love of their life?

Download VERONA ALONE

Download VERONA AGAIN

Images copyright A. Meredith

Featured image: Piazza della Repubblica  (courtesy of Pixabay)