[gohrt]

This is how the calendar originally worked (DECemeber is 10th month), until politics intervened in ancient Rome.

[tjradcliffe]

The Julian calendar typically started the year on the 25th of March (Lady Day) at noon (prior to clocks it was much easier to reckon mid-day than mid-night... navies kept this practice at least into the 1800's). This was true into the 1600's in parts of Europe and North America.