Cord Byrd: “August is from the Latin Augustus, the eighth month of our calendar year, a time of harvest and of plenty, named after…”

“August is from the Latin Augustus, the eighth month of our calendar year, a time of harvest and of plenty, named after Augustus Caesar. Augustus Caesar, or, more formally, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus. He was the grandnephew of Julius Caesar, and he was the first emperor of Rome, from 27 B.C. through 14 A.D. August is also an adjective, derived from the Latin verb meaning to increase, and in English meaning: to inspire awe and reverence, impose, something that is imposing and magnificent, or dignified and majestic. The adjective augustan refers also to the age of Augustus Caesar and his reign and suggests that anything so described is classical and elegant. The term Augustan age specifically refers to a period of Latin literature during the reign of Augustus Caesar, when elegance and correctness were highly valued. Oh, that we might return to that age at least in one sense, when elegance and correctness--not political correctness, but correctness--were highly valued.”