Ianuarius
Ianuarius, Januarius, or January, fully Mensis Ianuarius ("month of Janus") and abbreviated Ian., was the first month of the ancient Roman calendar, from which the Julian and Gregorian month of January derived. It was followed by Februarius ("February"). In the calendars of the Roman Republic, Ianuarius had 29 days. Two days were added when the calendar was reformed under Julius Caesar in 45 BCE.
In the oldest Roman calendar, which the Romans believed to have been instituted by their legendary founder
In the agricultural year
Many
Civic life
In the
The senior of the two consuls next convened the senate. Among other business, he announced the date of the
In the Imperial period, vows for the wellbeing of the emperor were made instead.
Dates
The Romans did not number days of a month sequentially from the 1st through the last day. Instead, they counted back from the three fixed points of the month: the
On the calendar of the Roman Republic and early Principate, each day was marked with a letter to denote its religiously lawful status. In January, these were:
- F for dies fasti, days when it was legal to initiate action in the courts of civil law;
- C, for dies comitalis, a day on which the Roman people could hold assemblies (comitia), elections, and certain kinds of judicial proceedings;
- N for dies nefasti, when these political activities and the administration of justice were prohibited;
- NP, the meaning of which remains elusive, but which marked feriae, public holidays;
- EN for endotercissus, an sacrifices were being prepared, and in the evening, while sacrifices were being offered, but were fasti in the middle of the day.[2]: 44–45
Days were also marked with nundinal letters in cycles of A B C D E F G H, to mark the "market week"[6]: 6 (these are omitted in the table below).
January had two
A
Ianuarius was expanded from 29 to 31 days on the
Modern date |
Roman date | status | Observances |
---|---|---|---|
Jan. 1 | Kalendae Ianuariae |
F | • Consuls take office (from 153 BC) • sacrifices to Vediovis at their Tiber Island sanctuaries
|
2 | ante diem IV Nonas Ianuarias | F | |
3 | a.d. III Non. Ian.[b] | C | • day on which the three-day Compitalia most often began |
4 | pridie Nonas Ianuarias (abbrev. prid. Non. Ian.) |
C | • continuation of Compitalia on its most frequently observed date |
5 | Nonae Ianuariae | F | • dies natalis of the shrine of Vica Pota on the Velia • day on which Compitalia most often ended |
6 | ante diem VIII Idūs Ianuarias | F | |
7 | a.d. VII Id. Ian.[c] | C | • Circenses for Father Janus (after late-1st century AD)[7] : 122
|
8 | VI Id. Ian.[d] | C | |
9 | V Id. Ian. | NP | • AGONALIA for Janus at the Regia |
10 | IV Id. Ian. | EN | |
11 | III Id. Ian. | NP | • CARMENTALIA • dies natalis of the cult of Juturna in the Campus Martius |
12 | pridie Idūs (abbrev. prid. Id.) |
C | |
13 | Idūs Ianuariae | NP | Ludi circenses for Jupiter Stator (after late-1st century AD)
|
14 | ante diem XIX Kalendas Februarias | EN | • some fasti of the early dies vitiosus, a religiously defective day, because it was the birthday of Mark Antony[e]
|
15 | a.d. XVIII Kal. Feb.[f] | NP | • CARMENTALIA (XVI Kal. Feb. on the pre-Julian calendar) |
16 | XVII Kal. Feb.[g] | C | • supplication for Augustus on the day he received the title Augustus (Feriale Cumanum)[11] : 129
|
17 | XVI Kal. Feb. | C | |
18 | XV Kal. Feb. | C | |
19 | XIV Kal. Feb. | C | |
20 | XIII Kal. Feb. | C | |
21 | XII Kal. Feb. | C | |
22 | XI Kal. Feb. | C | |
23 | X Kal. Feb. | C | |
24 | IX Kal. Feb. | C | • day on which the three-day Sementivae most often began • sacrifices for the dies natalis of the emperor Hadrian (reigned 117–138 AD)[h] |
25 | VIII Kal. Feb. | C | • continuation of Sementivae on its most frequently observed date |
26 | VII Kal. Feb. | C | • day on which Sementivae most often ended |
27 | VI Kal. Feb. | C | • dies natalis of the Temple of Castor and Pollux (IV Kal. Feb. on the pre-Julian calendar) |
28 | V Kal. Feb. | C | |
29 | IV Kal. Feb. | C | |
30 | III Kal. Feb. | (day added to the month on the Julian calendar) | |
31 | prid. Kal. Feb. | (day added to the month on the Julian calendar) |
Notes
- ^ The month name is construed as an adjective modifying Kalendae, Nonae or Idūs (all plural nouns of feminine gender).
- ^ Abbreviated form of ante diem III Nonas Ianuarias.
- ^ Abbreviated form of ante diem VII Idūs Ianuarias.
- ^ Abbreviated form of ante diem VII Idūs Ianuarias, with the ante diem omitted altogether from this point.
- ^ Claudius, the grandson of Antony, rehabilitated the day;[9][10]
- ^ Abbreviated form of ante diem XVIII Kalendas Februarias.
- ^ Abbreviated form of ante diem XVII Kalendas Februarias with the ante diem omitted altogether, as in the rest of the month following.
- ^ On the Feriale Duranum, a calendar of official religious observance for a military unit stationed at Dura-Europos.
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-415-52217-5.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8014-1402-2.
- ^ CIL I2.280
- ^ Columella (1745). L. Junius Moderatus Columella Of Husbandry: In Twelve Books: and His Book Concerning Trees. London: A. Millar.
- Varro. "4 Concerning the Agricultural Seasons". Wikisource. . Vol. Book 1 – via
- ISBN 978-1-4443-9652-2.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-520-06566-6.
- ISBN 978-0-19-814935-4.
- ^ Linderski, Jerzy (1986). "The Augural Law". In Temporini, Hildegard; Haase, Wolfgang (eds.). Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt [Rise and Decline of the Roman World] (in German). Vol. II.16. pp. 2187–2188.
- ^ Radke, G. (1978). "Der Geburtstag des älteren Drusus". Wurzburger Jahrbucher fur die Altertumswissenschaft (in German). Vol. 4. pp. 211–213.
- ISBN 978-0-203-21143-4.