Iunius (month)

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June panel from a Roman mosaic of the months (from El Djem, Tunisia, first half of 3rd century AD)

On the ancient

Quinctilis or Quintilis, the "fifth" month. Iunius had 29 days until a day was added during the Julian reform of the calendar in the mid-40s BC. The month that followed Iunius was renamed Iulius (July) in honour of Julius Caesar
.

Name of the month

In his

Kalends (June 1).[1]

Iconography

Illustration for the month of June, based on the 4th-century Calendar of Filocalus

Month illustrations that draw on the

Bean Kalends".[2]

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

inclusive; June 9 was ante diem V Idūs Iunias, "the 5th day before the Ides of June," usually abbreviated a.d. V Id. Iun. (or with the a.d. omitted altogether). The last day of June was the pridie Kalendas Quinctilis (pridie Kalendas Iulias after July was renamed),[3] "day before the Kalends of July". The modern equivalent of this date was June 29 on the pre-Julian calendar, but June 30 on the Julian, because June was one of the months to which a day was added in realigning with astronomical time. June 23 was thus VIII Kal. Quinct., "the 8th day before the Kalends of Quinctilis", during the Republican era, but IX Kal. Iul., "the 9th day before the Kalends of July", in the Imperial era
.

On the calendar of the Republic and early Principate, each day was marked with a letter to denote its religiously lawful status. In June, 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.

By the late 2nd century AD, extant calendars no longer show days marked with these letters, probably in part as a result of calendar reforms undertaken by

Varro specifies the act of sweeping (everritur)'.[5]

Days were also marked with nundinal letters in cycles of A B C D E F G H, to mark the "market week"[6] (these are omitted in the table below).

Festivals marked in large letters on extant fasti, represented by festival names in all capital letters on the table, are thought to have been the most ancient holidays, becoming part of the calendar before 509 BC. A dies natalis was an anniversary such as a temple founding or rededication, sometimes thought of as the "birthday" of a deity. [7]

Unless otherwise noted, the dating and observances on the following table are from

H.H. Scullard, Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic.[8] Scullard places the Taurian Games
on June 25–26 on a five-year cycle, but other scholars believe these ludi had no regular date and were held as a crisis ritual when needed. After the Ides, dual dates are given to represent both the earlier calendar, when June had 29 days and July was called Quinctilis, and the 30-day month of the Julian calendar.

Modern
date		 Roman date status Observances
June 1 Kalendae Iuniae N •
Tempestates
• festival of Carna, popularly known as the "Bean Kalends", and in the later Empire the last day of the Ludi Fabarici ("Bean Games")[9]
2 a.d. IV Non. Iun.[10] F
3 III Non. Iun. [11] C • die natalis of the Temple of Bellona in the Circus Flaminius
4 prid. Non. Iun.[12] C *dies natalis of the Temple of Hercules Magnus Custos ("Hercules the Great Watchman") near the Circus Flaminius, with ludi added in the Imperial era[13]
5 Nonae Iunias N • dies natalis of the Temple of Dius Fidius
6 VIII Id. Iun.[14] N • Colossus coronatur: the colossal statue of Sol was wreathed (Imperial era)[15]
7 VII Id. Iun. N
dies religiosus		 • Vesta aperitur ("Vesta is opened"), when the inner sanctum of the Temple of Vesta was opened for women only
• Ludi Piscatorii, "Fishermen's Games"
8 VI Id. Iun. N
dies religiosus		 • dies natalis of the Temple of Mens
9 V Id. Iun. N
dies religiosus		 • VESTALIA
10 IV Id. Iun. N
11 III Id. Iun. NP
dies religiosus		 •
MATRALIA
•dies natalis of the Temple of Fortuna in the Forum Boarium
12 prid. Id. Iun.[16] N
13 Idūs Iunias NP
dies religiosus		 • monthly Feriae Iovi
• Lesser Quinquatrus
14 XVII Kal. Quinct.
XVIII Kal. Iul.		 N
15 XVI Kal. Quinct.
XVII Kal. Iul.		 F
Q.ST.D.F.
dies religiosus		 • Vesta clauditur, inner sanctum of Vesta closed
16 XV Kal. Quinct.
XVI Kal. Iul.[17]		 C
17 XIV Kal. Quinct.
XV Kal. Iul.		 C
18 XIII Kal. Quinct.
XIV Kal. Iul.		 C
19 XII Kal. Quinct.
XIII Kal. Iul.		 C • dies natalis for the Temple of Minerva on the Aventine
20 XI Kal. Quinct.
XII Kal. Iul.		 C • dies natalis for the Temple of Summanus near the Circus Maximus
21 X Kal. Quinct.
XI Kal. Iul.		 C
22 IX Kal. Quinct.
X Kal. Iul.		 C
23 VIII Kal. Quinct.
IX Kal. Iul.		 C
24 VII Kal. Quinct.
VIII Kal. Iul.		 C • dies natalis for the Temple of Fors Fortuna across the Tiber
• Solstice or dies lampadarum[18]
25 VI Kal. Quinct.
VII Kal. Iul.		 C
26 V Kal. Quinct.
VI Kal. Iul.		 C
27 IV Kal. Quinct.
V Kal. Iul.		 C • dies natales for a Temple of the Lares and of Jupiter Stator on the Palatine
28 III Kal. Quinct.
IV Kal. Iul.		 C
29 prid. Kal. Quinct.
III Kal. Iul.		 C
30 prid. Kal. Iul. C

References

  1. H.H. Scullard
    , Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic (Cornell University Press, 1981), p. 126.
  2. ^ Michele Renee Salzman, On Roman Time: The Codex Calendar of 354 and the Rhythms of Urban Life in Late Antiquity (University of California Press, 1990), p. 92.
  3. ^ The month name is construed as an adjective modifying Kalendae, Nonae or Idūs, all of which are of feminine grammatical gender.
  4. ^ Salzman, On Roman Time, pp. 17, 122.
  5. ^ Varro, De lingua latina 6.32; Robin Lorsch Wildfang, Rome's Vestal Virgins (Routledge, 2006), p. 140; Salzman, On Roman Time, p. 160.
  6. ^ Jörg Rüpke, The Roman Calendar from Numa to Constantine: Time, History, and the Fasti, translated by David M.B. Richardson (Blackwell, 2011, originally published 1995 in German), p. 6.
  7. ^ Scullard, Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic, p. 41.
  8. ^ Scullard, Festivals and Ceremonies, pp. 126–158.
  9. ^ Salzman, On Roman Time, p. 122.
  10. ^ Abbreviated form of ante diem IV Nonas Iunias, "fourth day before the Nones of June".
  11. ^ Abbreviated form of ante diem III Nonas Iunias.
  12. ^ Abbreviation of pridie Nonas Iunias, "day before the Nones of June".
  13. ^ Salzman, On Roman Time, p. 126.
  14. ^ Abbreviated form of ante diem VIII Idūs Iunias, with the ante diem omitted altogether from this point.
  15. ^ Salzman, On Roman Time, pp. 151, 125.
  16. ^ Abbreviation of pridie Idūs Iunias, "day before the Ides of June".
  17. ^ Abbreviated form of ante diem XVII Kalendas Iunias.
  18. Calendar of Filocalus
    ; Salzman, On Roman Time, pp. 92–93, 124.


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