February broke the Time Machine

When we were in Ancient Rome, the winter was barren,
Its 61 days unnamed, invisible, or dead,
Referred to not with Kalends or Ides
But with references to the first frost of the year,
Or some great earthquake, some battle, some king.

February, when bright and new, was the last month
Before it became the second month -
Scarcely sooner breathed into existence
Than it was changed, relatively speaking, like the 50th version of
A chain letter or a game of telephone.

When we were in Ancient Rome, giving the time machine a rest,
Our clock from the 24th century
Declared to us that the date was 2/3
When our littlest son in infancy
Came to be.

The year was 700 B.C., the year of the birth of
February.
It was fraught with complaints, not least by me.
With my future knowledge, I had curried favor
With the Pompilius family and Numa in particular,
And it perhaps changed history
That I suggested February
Come to be.

In the way of kings and courts, the suggestion
Did not flesh out like my intention.
The last month of the year it would be,
Until 452 B.C.

The birth of our son, first to be on 2/3, 700 B.C.
Threw off our calculations of time slightly.
It was 2/3 by the modern clock
And by the dial of the time?
We got it wrong-
Now, damn, this Tyranosaur is strong.

https://www.britannica.com/science/Roman-republican-calendar