Cingius (Cincius)
A Roman writer on the calendar, whose book on the fasti Macrobius cites against the derivation of April from Venus.
Where the months got their names
Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.12–14 (early fifth century CE), in the edition of Franz Eyssenhardt (Leipzig, 1893) · early fifth century CE; the dialogue is set in the 380s
sed Cingius in eo libro, quem de fastis reliquit, ait imperite quosdam opinari Aprilem mensem antiquos a Venere dixisse, cum nullus dies festus nullumque sacrificium insigne Veneri per hunc mensem a maioribus institutum sit, sed ne in carminibus quidem Saliorum Veneris ulla ut ceterorum caelestium laus celebretur.
But Cingius, in the book he left on the calendar, says that some people wrongly suppose the ancients named April after Venus. Our ancestors set up no feast day and no special sacrifice for Venus in this month. Even the hymns of the Salii, which praise the other gods of heaven, have no praise of Venus.
Cingio etiam Varro consentit adfirmans nomen Veneris ne sub regibus quidem apud Romanos uel Latinum uel Graecum fuisse, et ideo non potuisse mensem a Venere nominari.
Varro agrees with Cingius. He states that the Romans did not know the name of Venus, in Latin or in Greek, even in the time of the kings, and so the month could not have been named after her.
Cingius mensem nominatum putat a Maia, quam Vulcani dicit uxorem, argumentoque utitur, quod flamen Vulcanalis Kalendis Maiis huic deae rem diuinam facit. sed Piso uxorem Vulcani Maiestam non Maiam dicit uocari.
Cingius thinks the month was named after Maia, who he says was the wife of Vulcan. As proof he points out that the priest of Vulcan makes a sacrifice to this goddess on the first of May. But Piso says that Vulcan's wife was called Maiesta, not Maia.
Iunius Maium sequitur aut ex parte populi, ut supra diximus, nominatus aut, ut Cingius arbitratur, quod Iunonius apud Latinos ante uocitatus, diuque apud Aricinos Praenestinosque hac appelatione in fastos relatus sit adeo ut, sicut Nisus in commentariis fastorum dicit apud maiores quoque nostros haec appelatio mensis diu manserit, sed post detritis quibusdam litteris ex Iunonio Iunius dictus sit. nam et aedes Iunoni Monetae Kalend. Iuniis dedicata est.
June follows May. It was named either after a part of the people, as I said above, or, as Cingius judges, because the Latins once called it Iunonius [after Juno]. The people of Aricia and Praeneste long kept this name in their calendars. As Nisus says in his notes on the calendar, our ancestors too kept this name of the month for a long time, but later some letters wore away and Iunonius became Iunius. Indeed, the temple of Juno Moneta was dedicated on the first of June.