July

The Saturday Evening Post, July 25th 1914

I'm so sorry I haven't been keeping up with the month posts but I've recently gotten a job and I'm still adjusting to it and trying to get back to doing anything outside of work! So I'm going to quickly try and catch up starting with July.

July is the seventh month of the year. It was named after Julius Caesar, as it was the month he was born in, and was previously known as Quintilis, which meant "fifth" (the Romans originally had only ten months in the calendar - starting with "Martius" or March). He was born Gaius Julius Caesar of the ancient and powerful Julia family, which boasted the claim that they were derived from Iulus, a son of the Trojan Prince Aeneas, which in legend was said to be the son of Venus.
The Romans celebrated the festivals Poplifugia and Ludi Apollinares, the latter celebrating the God Apollo by playing "ludi" or games, which were held at the Circus Maximus, and included equestrian games like chariot racing, as well as theatrical performances.

The birthstone of July is the ruby, which is one of the four precious stones, including sapphire, emerald, and diamond. It's names comes from the Latin ruber, meaning simply "red". The birth flowers are larkspur also known as delphinium, and the water lily. The Zodiac signs are Cancer and Leo, inspired by the myth of the Nemean lion, a beast with hide impenetrable by human weapons. To kill the lion was the first of Heracles' twelve labors.

July in other languages: Juillet (French), July
Flowers: Lily, Lillian, Lilith, Crina ("Lily"), Nerida ("Water lily"), Niloofar ("Water lily"), Larkspur, Delphine/Delphina, Fenella (a type of larkspur), Victoria (a type of water lily), Castalia (a subgenus of night blooming water lilies)
Gems: Ruby, Rubina
Zodiac: River, Brook/e; Ari ("Lion"), Leo, Ariel ("Lion of God"), Lev ("Lion"), Leonidas ("Lion")
Seventh: Septimus ("Seventh")
Other: Julia/Julie, Julius/Julian/Jules, Gaius/Caius, Iulus, Apollo/Apollon/Apollinaire/Apollonia/Apolline