If you’re in Europe, it’s likely you’re taking an extended holiday. If you’re anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere, you might just be trying to stay cool. August is the eighth month of the Gregorian calendar, and the sixth month of the Roman calendar. Its original name was Sextilus, Latin for “sixth month.” In 8 BCE, the month was named in honor of Augustus Caesar, the first Roman emperor.

在歐洲，八月份人們通常會放一個長假，但如果你在北半球的其他地方，你可能只想涼快點兒。八月是格里高利歷的第八個月，但是是古羅馬歷法的第六個月。它之前的名字叫做Sextilus，這個詞是拉丁語“第六個月”的意思。在公元前8世紀，該月份的名稱是由第一位羅馬帝王奧古斯都·愷撒的名字而來的。

Who is the man August was named for?

奧古斯都（August）這個名字后來成為了誰的名字？

The emperor was a man of many names. He was born Gaius Octavius, the grandnephew of Julius Caesar. He took the extended name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus in 44 after Caesar’s assassination. Though in English texts, he was often referred to simply as Octavian.

這位帝王有很多個名字，他出生時候的名字叫做蓋烏斯·屋大維，是尤利烏斯·愷撒的曾外甥，因此在公元前44年，凱撒被刺殺后，他取了凱撒的名字，叫做蓋烏斯·尤利烏斯·凱撒·屋大維。而在英語語境里，他的名字則被簡稱為屋大維。

Then in 31, he defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra to gain control over the empire. Finally in 27, when he was named emperor, he was given the honorary title Augustus.

公元前31年，他打敗了馬克·安東尼和克利奧帕特拉，以掌控帝國。最終在公元前27年，被任為帝王，并獲得了奧古斯都的榮譽稱號。

What does it mean to be august?

成為奧古斯都意味著什么？

When we describe something as august, we are saying it is majestic and inspires reverence or admiration. The word can also take the form of an adverb (augustly) and a noun (augustness). August also relates to augury, the act of divination (telling the future), particularly by the behavior of birds and animals and the examination of their entrails and other parts. Augurs were the official Roman soothsayers, whose job was not to tell the future so much as to determine if the Roman gods approved of a planned course of action.

除了表示月份，“august”也有“威嚴的、莊嚴的”之意，當我們描述一些宏偉壯大的、讓人敬佩的事物時，我們常用august一詞來形容。這個詞的副詞和名詞形式分別是“augustly”和“augustness”。“august”還有“征兆、預兆”之意，也就是和預測（未來）相關的行為，尤其是從鳥類和動物的行為、體內(nèi)和身體的其他部分觀察到的現(xiàn)象。Augurs還是古羅馬時期的占卜官，其工作不是預知未來，而是探測古羅馬眾神是否應允了計劃的行動方案。

And here’s a usage not heard often: an auguste is a “type of circus clown who usually wears battered ordinary clothes and is habitually maladroit or unlucky.” May your August be filled with favorable omens and devoid of unlucky circus clowns.

關于“august”還有一種說法，就是他是指“經(jīng)常穿著破舊衣服的馬戲團小丑，常常不合時宜，也很不幸。”愿你的八月皆是吉兆，愿你不會遇見不幸的小丑。