The Roman Calendar: Origins & Festivals

By Marion Pearce

This book explores the origins of our calendar which dates back to the days of ancient Rome. The festivals and various celebrations are described, from the wild excesses of the Lupercalia to the gentler pastoral Floralia and Ambarvalia, the Roman zest for life shines through their year. The whole of the Roman world can be found in the

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fenix Flames Publishing Ltd
• Release date: Dec 17, 2021
• ISBN: 9781913768256

Marion Pearce

­­Marion Pearce was the publisher of Pentacle magazine, the largest independent Pagan Magazine in the UK with a large circulation in the the US also. She is also a previous editor of Pagan Dawn, the magazine of the Pagan Federation. She is author of "Gods of the Vikings" (Avalonia) and author of "The Roman Calendar", and "Celts: Masters of Fire" both of which are from the republishing series by Fenix Flames.

Book preview

THE

ROMAN CALENDAR:

ORIGINS AND FESTIVALS

by

Marion Pearce

images_FFPLogoGreyFlat.jpg

Published by Fenix Flames Publishing Ltd  2021

Copyright © 2004   Marion Pearce

This edition 2021

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who performs any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

Published by Fenix Flames Publishing Ltd

Design, Layout & illustrations: Ashley Mortimer

Printed by Lightning Source International / Ingram Spark

 Paperback  ISBN  978-1-913768-24-9

Digital book   ISBN  978-1-913768-25-6

www.publishing.fenixflames.co.uk

By The Same Author:

Celtic Sacrifice: Pre-Christian Ritual and Religion

Celts: Masters of Fire

Gods of the Vikings

Milton Chalkwell and the Crowstone

Pentacle Magazine

Contents

Introduction  ................................................ 1

Definition of the Months of the Year  ....... 3

January  ....................................................... 11

February  ..................................................... 31

March  ......................................................... 51

April  ........................................................... 71

May  ........................................................... 97

June  ........................................................... 113

July  ........................................................... 125

August  ....................................................... 149

September  ................................................ 183

October  .................................................... 191

November  ................................................ 197

December ................................................. 207

Sources ..................................................... 217

INTRODUCTION

When you look at the calendar, the months of the year, how did the names originate? The calendar which is used in the modern western world has a fascinating history, dating back to the days of ancient Rome.

There were two main seasons to the Romans, firstly the war season, in the summer, that lasted from the beginning of the year, from March through to October. This was considered the best time to stage a conflict against one’s enemies. It was a busy season, when most of the agricultural work was done. The Romans were essentially an agricultural people, farming was very important to them, a good harvest was essential and called for help from the gods. Unless the immortals were evoked, how could there be abundant produce? Their lives were lived through the rhythm of the gods from Olympus and many of the festivals held during this season were pastoral, e.g. Floralia and Ambarvalia. Roman games were held, there was chariot racing, bloody gladiator contests, and staged hunts of wild beasts. These were really popular - the stadiums were packed with eager crowds cheering on the contestants.

The winter season, from October through to March, was considered a time of rest, though of course battles were still sometimes fought. Now the soldiers would return tired from war. The harvest was over. It was a time of entertainment, people would hold parties, there would be feasting and general merriment. Many of the more wild and jovial festivals fell during this period, e.g. Lupercalia and Saturnalia. The Romans loved feasting and drinking, they loved to enjoy themselves. This was also the main political period in Roman life with annual elections held in the months of November, December and March.

Throughout the year there were many different festivals and the variety of celebrations is breathtaking. There were harvest festivals, boundary festivals, festivals of the dead, festivals to honour mothers, festivals of wine. Any excuse to honour the gods was taken, often to the extreme. It is quite hard to see how the Romans achieved any work, but the harvests were gathered in and the campaigns fought. But in-between the Romans had a zest for life and this shines through their year.

Sacrifice was important in the ancient world. All very old civilisations practised blood sacrifice and the Romans were no exception. Animals were utilised, usually lambs but sometimes other creatures were used as offerings to appease the wrath of the gods. This was a significant part of the rituals. Good harvests and luck relied on the gods’ approval. The immortals were vital to life and as such had to be placated.

Large elaborate altars were used by the Romans. There are excellent examples of these at Colchester and Bath. On these were placed gifts for the gods, corn, wine, and sacrificed animals. The animal to be given to the gods was usually stunned by a pole axe then killed by the sacrificial knife, an implement holy and only used for religious duties. It was a sacred and solemn occasion, the sacrifice and ritual appeasement of the immortals.

Ritual cleansing was done by washing with water from flagons and shallow bowls, called paterae. These vessels were constructed from a variety of materials including, pottery, pewter, bronze and silver.

The whole of the Roman world can be found in the chronology of time. How they related to their many gods and goddess, their mythology, their sports, are all hidden in their definition of the year. Now it is time to decode this enigma and see how the Romans really lived. So let us turn back the clock, step back into time and discover that it is all in the calendar.

Definition of the Months of the Year

The original Roman calendar had ten months starting at March or Martius, the month named after the god Mars. These months were called Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Junius, Quintilius, Sextilis, Septembris, Octobris and Decembris. The last five of these months meant literally fifth to tenth month. These months corresponded to our months of March through to December. This made ten irregular months with a total of 304 days. It was an agricultural calendar and was known as the year of Romulus, who was the founder of Rome. This continued to approx, the 6th century BC. This was a very inexact method to calculate the year, something the Roman poet Ovid acknowledges as he states:

To be sure, Romulus, thou wert better versed in swords than stars, and to conquer thy neighbours was thy main concern.

Perhaps in those far off days, and this is over 2000 years ago, time was not the necessity it now is, warfare and campaigns were considered more important. You did not need to be so accurate when you were fighting your enemies to survive and build an empire.

The months of Januaruis or January, and Februa or February, were added later by the Roman King Numa. But these new months were not the beginning of the year. In fact February with its traditional role of purification was the end of the year and March was still the commencement of the new year. In 153 BC January was made the start of the year.

The Roman poet, Ovid, in Fasti, describes how the calendar was initiated:

"When the founder of the City was setting the calendar in order, he ordained that there should be twice five months in hisyear. To be sure, Romulus (the mythological founder of Rome), thou wert better versed in swords than stars, and to econquer thy neighbours was thy main concern. Yet, Caesar, there is a reason that may have moved him, and for his error he might urge a plea. The time that suffices for a child to come forth from its mothers womb, he deemed sufficient for a year. (Ovid here means lunar months.) For just so many months after her husbands funeral a wife supports the signs of sorrow in her widowed home. These things, then Quirinus in his striped gown had in view, when to the simple folk he gave his laws to regulate the year. The month of Mars was the first, and that of Venus the second; she was the author of the race, and he its sire. The third month took its name form the old, and the fourth from the young; the months that trooped after were distinguished by numbers. But Numa (Numa Pompilius, King of Rome, 715-673 BC) overlooked not Janus and the ancestral shades, and so to the ancient months he prefixed two."

Not much is known about King Numa but his reign was described by the Latin writer, Florus, in the second century AD as:

"The successor of Romulus was Numa Pompilius, whom, while he was living at Cures in the territory of the Sabines, the Romans of their own accord invited him to become king owing to the fame of his piety. He instructed them in sacred rites and ceremonies and all the worship of the immortal gods. He established pontiffs, augurs, the Salii (Roman Priests), and the other priesthoods. He divided the year into twelve months and appointed the days upon which the courts could and could not meet. He gave the Romans the sacred shields and the Palladium (an image of the Greek goddess Pallas Athena), the mystic tokens of empire, and the double faced Janus the symbol of peace and war. Above all he handed over the care of the hearth of Vesta to the Vestal Virgins, that the flame, imitating the heavenly stars, might keep guardian watch over the empire."

The change from the year beginning at the Spring month of March to the earlier month of January was debated. Here is Ovid describing the reasons for the alteration of the start of the year:

... Come, say, why doth the new year begin in the cold season? Better had it begun in spring. Then all things flower, then time renews his age, and new from out the teeming vine-shoot swells the bud; in fresh-formed leaves the tree is draped, and from earth’s surface sprouts the blade of corn. Birds with their warblings winnow the warm air; the cattle frisk and wanton in the meadows. Then suns are sweet, forth comes the stranger swallow and builds her clayey structure under the lofty beam. Then the field submits to tillage and is renewed by the plough. That is the season which rightly should have been called New Year."

Thus questioned I at length; he (Janus) answered prompt and tersely, throwing his words into twain verses, thus: "Midwinter is the beginning of the new sun and the end of the old one. Phoebus (Phoebus Apollo, Roman God of Sun), and the year take their start from the same point."

In the ancient Roman calendar a year had ten months. Here is Ovid discussing the importance of the number ten:

A year was counted when the moon had returned to the full for the tenth time: that number was then in great honour, whether because that is the number of the fingers by which we are wont to count, or because a woman brings forth in twice five months, or because the numerals increase up to ten, and from that we start a fresh round.

By the time of the Roman Emperor Caesar, the year now consisted of 12 months. There were four months consisting of 31 days: March or Martius, May or Maius, July or Quintilis, and October mensis, October. There were seven months consisting of 29 days: Ianuarius or January, Aprilus or April, Iunius or Junius or June, Sextilis or August, September, November, and December. Februarius or February had 28 days. The calendar was now 355 days long.

This caused a problem as a year is the number of days in one revolution of the Earth around the Sun. This figure is 365.2422 days. So the calendar was roughly 10 days short every year. The solution the Romans adopted for this predicament was what was called intercalation. Every other year a month was added called Intercalaris or Mercedonius. This consisted of 22 or 23 days and redressed the balance. This month was inserted into the calendar on February 23rd after the festival of Terminalia. The remaining five days of February were added to the new month of Inercalaris making this month 27 or 28 days long.

The Romans now had a four yearly cycle consisting of 355, 375, 355, and 377 days respectively. This gave 1465 days, still inaccurate as it was four days longer than the solar year. But even so when you consider we are talking about 2000 years ago, it was still a fairly accurate calendar, after all they did not have our modern means of establishing time and I find it remarkable that they could be so exact at all.

This would have been a precise method of calculating the calendar if it had been followed. But the Romans were very politically oriented. The decision when the intercalary months occurred rested with the priests. Now on the intercalary months there was allowed uninterrupted political or judicial business. In those power hungry days, that meant that if that extra month was stopped, an opponent’s law-suit could be stopped or at least delayed. This was just too much of a temptation and many times the additional month that adjusted the calendar was postponed.

This produced some surprising results. In 50 BC, there was so much doubt about the calendar, that Cicero, the Roman orator, did not know on the 13th of February if there would have been an intercalation later on in the same month, just ten days later. This of course must have caused many difficulties.

By now the calendar was totally at odds with solar time. In 190 BC, the calendar was ahead by 117 days. But even the amounts that the calendar was inaccurate varied. By 168 BC the days that that year was incorrect had changed to 72 days. This meant the calendar had to be altered by intercalation 12 times in 22 years.

All this movement and modification of the year produced bizarre results. The year, and with its corresponding festivals was totally out of step with the seasons. In fact by Caesar’s reign in Rome, in 46 BC, the calendar was 90 days behind the solar year. In that year there were three intercalary months. This was just to adjust the year with the seasons and ensure that the Roman peasants harvest in the summer and pick grapes in the autumn. It was said at the time that the populace was praying and beseeching the gods for a break in the extreme heat of summer, when in fact their teeth were chattering with cold. Rituals involving sacrifices for rain were being made when there was snow on the ground. Something had to be done.

Caesar took action. In 46 BC the old calendar was abandoned. A new calendar based firmly on the solar year of 365 1/4 days was instigated. This was our modern calendar that we still use today and is called the Julian calendar after its remarkable constructor. It is incredible that this meticulous and precise calendar was calculated so many years ago.

Here is Seutonius in The Twelve Caesars describing the reforms Caesar made to the calendar:

First he reorganised the Calendar which the Pontiffs had allowed to fall into such disorder, by intercalating days or months as it suited them, that the harvest and vintage festivals no longer corresponded with the appropriate seasons. He linked the year to the course of the sun by lengthening it from 355 days to 365, abolishing the short extra month intercalated after every second February, and adding an entire day every fourth year. (This is the leap year.) But to make the next first of January fall at the right season, he drew out this particular year (that is 46 BC) by two extra months, inserted between November and December, so that it consisted of fifteen, including the intercalary one inserted after February in the old style.

The last adjustments of fifteen months of 46 BC now meant that the year would each have 12 months and each month would fall at the correct season in the religious calendar.

This is the calendar that we now recognise. January starts the year. The months have either 30 or 31 days, except February, and totally correspond with the seasons. An extra day was added to February every four years, making the now familiar leap year. It was the addition of this last day of February that caused problems. After Caesar’s death the Roman pontifices, who were the religious authorities of the day added the extra day every three years instead of four. It was left to the reign of Augustus in 9 BC to amend the year by omitting the extra day for 16 years. But by the year AD 8, the Julian calendar was functioning accurately.

The Julian calendar was now 365.25 days long, but the solar year was 365.2422 days. Over the centuries the difference in the calendar became noticeable. This was amended by Pope Gregory Xlll in 1582. Ten days were deleted from the calendar. This caused an outcry by the general population, who feared a loss of ten days from their life. The spring or vernal equinox was now March 21st, the same as it had been in AD 325. The date of the equinox was vital in calculating the date of the Christian festival of Easter. Easter falls on the first full Sunday on or after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. This date was now stabilised to between March 22nd to April 25th. A leap year was created every four years by the extension of an extra day to February.

These last additions to the calendar gave us the system that is now in use. This is the Gregorian Calendar. The reforms were gradually adopted in most countries. France, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Spain first in 1582. They were followed by German Roman Catholics, Belgium and part of the Netherlands in 1584. Switzerland gradually amended their calendar from 1583-1812. Britain converted to the Gregorian Calendar in 1752. Russia was late in adopting it, they changed only during their revolution and the turmoil of World War One. The last country to alter their calendar was Greece in 1923.

Thus gradually the world accepted Pope Gregory’s reforms and time and the calendar was as we now know it.

January

This had the Roman name of Januarius. This month was dedicated to the god Janus by the Romans. This god had two faces, looking outwards in opposite directions. Thus he could be looking backwards as well as forwards, at the same time. This is very appropriate for the month of January, being the first month of the year, as Janus was able to look back to the year just past and forward to the current year.

Janus is also the Roman god of doorways and passages. In fact he derives his name from the Roman "ianus meaning doorway or passage. His two functions are reflected in variations of his name: Janus Patulcius, the god that opened doors; and Janus Clusivus, the god that closed doors. He was also said to be the keeper of the Gate of Heaven, which is very apt if you consider January as the doorway" to a new year.

Janus was also known as the god of beginnings, in fact as the god of creation. In this role he was known as Janus Pater, meaning Janus the Father. In any list of gods that were evoked in Roman days, Janus was called upon first. He was also the first to be given a piece of the sacrifice that was offered for the well-being of the nation.

There is a lovely story relating to Janus and the Roman creation myth. This goes back to the beginning of time,