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Fasti: Friday and Saturday, 27-28 Feb 09
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Posted:
Fri Feb 27, 2009 7:29 am
by Aldus Marius
Salvete, amici Romani!
The Fasti for Friday, 27 Februarius:
ante diem III Kalendas Martias [NP]
EQUIRRIA
From the SVR calendar:
* Equirria: Horse races held in the Campus Martius to honor Mars.
* Birth of Constantine, 272/273 CE.
* Martyrdom of priests Nestorius and Priscus ends the Eleusinian Mysteries, 380 CE.
And for Saturday the 28th:
Pridie Kalendas Martias [C]
Notes: The last day of each month is sacred to Hekate.
"Neria, wife of Mars, I appeal to you, give peace. May you use your own favored position with your husband; counsel Him to partake in this plan." (Gellius, Noctes Atticae XIII.23.13)
In fide,
Ad Kalendas Graecas
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Posted:
Fri Feb 27, 2009 7:36 am
by Formosus Viriustus
Salve,
Here is still a bit more about the Greek calendar.
More than one calendar
Athenians lived in fact under a number of simultaneous calendars, used to fix days for different purposes. How much each calendar meant to an individual must have depended on how they lived. They may be set out as follows:
A festival calendar of 12 months based on the cycle of the moon
A democratic state calendar of 10 arbitrary months
An agricultural calendar of seasons using star risings to fix points in time
Lunisolar calendar
The year was meant to begin with the first sighting of the new moon after the summer solstice. The solstice is when the rising and setting points of the sun on the horizon, which have been creeping north over the past half-year, appear to remain in the same place for a few days before beginning their drift back toward the south. Ideally, the solstice was to occur in the last month of the year. Then, on the day after the evening when the first sliver of the new moon had been seen (or presumed to have been seen), the new year was to begin. Because the relation of these two events, solstice and new moon, is variable, the new year would have moved (in relation to a Gregorian date) by up to month.
The linking of the sun and the moon meant that the calendar was lunisolar. Twelve lunar months add up to about 354 days, eleven days or so shorter than the solar year. Under a purely lunar calendar, such as the Islamic one, the months creep backwards over the years with no relation between the months and the seasons. In Greece with its pronounced seasons this had to be prevented. By tying the start of their year to the solstice, the Athenians allowed the months to relate, with some elasticity, to the seasons.
This still left the problem that twelve lunar months fall eleven days short of the solar year. To make up for this, an extra month had to be inserted ("intercalated") about every third year, leading to a leap year of about 384 days. So normal years contained 12 lunar cycles and then when it was judged that the months had slid back enough, a year of 13 cycles was used to realign the lunar and solar years. This extra month was achieved by repeating an existing month. That is to say, the same month name was used twice in a row. Handbooks usually refer to the sixth month, Poseideon, as the month that was repeated, but months 1, 2, 6, 7 and 8 are all attested as being doubled. (Hannah 2005: 43)
Various cycles were in existence for working out exactly which years needed to take a thirteen month. A nineteen year cycle known as the Metonic cycle which was developed at Athens by the astronomers Meton and Euctemon (known to be active in 432 BC), could have been used to pattern the insertion of leap years so as to keep the lunar and solar years aligned with some accuracy. There is, however, no sign that any such system was in fact used at Athens, where the calendar seems to have been administered on an ad hoc basis.
From wikipedia
Vale,
Fasti: Sunday and Monday, 1-2 Mar 2009
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Posted:
Mon Mar 02, 2009 8:47 am
by Aldus Marius
Salvete, amici Romani!
Aack! You'd think I'd've jumped on this one sooner; it is, after all, the warrior-god Mars' month. If my lorica still fits once I'm completely out of hibernation, I will know He has forgiven me! >({(:-)
We're also closing in on the end of the regular Fasti postings. I began on 10 Martius of last year, which means I could leave off after the 9th...but, as a piaculum (if that's the word for a small penitential offering), I'll carry us all the way to April. Ita, mi Iohanne; I will do so myself; you're off the hook unless you don't want to be, and of course anyone with an extra insight or anecdote about the day in question is very welcome to post it here.
Bene'st, let's get underway; the Fasti for Sunday, 1 March:
"Arise, O Consus, arise. All things, truly, I entrust to Patulcium the Opener. Now You are Janus the Gatekeeper, now Cerus the Good Creator, now Janus the God of Good Beginnings. Come, now most especially, You who are the better of these kings." (Carmen Salii in Varro, de Lingua Latina 7.26)
Kalendis Martiis [NP]
FERIAE MARTI
Notes: Today is the first day of the Feriae Marti. The last day is a.d. IX Kal. Aprilis (24 March). Also, the Kalends of every month is sacred to Iuno (Vindicat Ausonias Iunonis cura kalendas). -Ovidius
From the SVR calendar:
* Dies natalis Mars Pater Victor; Feriae Marti begin.
* Laurels are placed over the door of the Regia, and Vesta’s sacred fire is renewed.
* Matronalia Festival of women at the Temple of Juno Lucina (Juno in Her aspect as the bringer of newborns into the light), dedicated 375 BCE. "Kind Lucina, I pray You spare pregnant girls from labor’s hardship and gently birth ripened infants from their wombs." (Ovid, Fasti II.451-52).
And for Monday the 2nd:
VI Non Mart [C]; Dies Ater.
Notes: The day after the Kalends, the Nones, and the Ides is always ater, on account of several military and other disasters having occured on those dates.
"Restore our youth, Venus, restore our healthy glow, and the Kalends of March they will devote to the Paphian goddess. Gladly will the procession wind to Your altar, in shining white robes they will bring You sweet incense and pure wine, served with glistening morsels of meat piled as delicate petit fors." (Martial IX.90.13-18)
(The Romans had petit fors, and called them by that name?) >({|8-)
In fide,
Fasti: Tuesday and Wednesday, 3-4 Mar 2009
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Posted:
Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:07 am
by Aldus Marius
Salvete, Romani viatores!
The Fasti for Tuesday, 3 Martius:
ante diem V Nonas Martias [C]
Dies Religiosus: FERIAE MARTI continue (to the 24th)
"Dance before the Father of the Gods, give thanks to the God of Gods." (Carmen Salii and Varro, de Lingua Latina 7.27)
And for Wednesday the 4th:
ante diem IV Nonas Martias [C]
Dies Religiosus: FERIAE MARTI
And, lest we neglect the small things:
"At this time, too, attention should be paid to gardens and rose beds." (Pliny, Historia Naturalis 18.65)
In fide,
Fasti: Thursday, 5 March 2009
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Posted:
Wed Mar 04, 2009 9:07 am
by Aldus Marius
Salvete omnes!
The Fasti for Thursday, 5 Martius:
ante diem III Nonas Martias [C]
Dies Religiosus, FERIAE MARTI
From the SVR calendar: Mi Paule, it's a festival of Isis!
* Isidis Navigium: Flower wreaths are thrown on the water as an image of Isis is brought down to the sea, as a blessing of boats at the beginning of the sailing season. "Isis, once stalled in Phoroneus’ caves, now queen of Pharos and a deity of the breathless East, welcome with the sound of many sistrums the Mareotic bark, and gently with your own hand lead the peerless youth." (Statius, Silvae III.2.101-4).
In fide, >({|:-)
Re: Fasti
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Posted:
Thu Mar 05, 2009 4:01 am
by Valerius Claudius Iohanes
Salve, Marii - Salvete, Omnes - Ita, mi Iohanne; I will do so myself; you're off the hook
Well, it's an unequal contest, it seems! You're quick and apt, mi Marii! With a contented sigh, I relinquish the office of Fasti Poster to yourself for the last few days left.
Mehercule! It's Feriae Marti already! A propos of the stalwart Mars, I always like to point out that (as I understand it) Mars is rather unlike Ares, the Greek War God, since Mars began as an Italian God of the Defense of Life, Limb and Property.
However bellicose Rome herself was, there's a collected and centered heart to Him. I've seen it said that it's His "territoriality" that makes geese of all things, since they are a most territorial species, sacred to Him.
Now, if I'm off in my recollections, I do hope someone will let me know.
Valete bene per dies Feriarum Marti!
Mars Pater
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Posted:
Thu Mar 05, 2009 5:29 am
by Aldus Marius
Salve, mi Iohanne!
Nothing wrong with your recollection; Ares was always presented as the incarnation of mindless aggression, whereas Mars Pater is a war-god of a more nuanced sort.
I think the key to Him is to reflect on His original role as an agricultural deity. A Roman would, of course, want to defend his own fields. But he might also want to annex the fields of neighboring towns or tribes (to put it mildly), in order that there might be more acreage for Mars to oversee. Certainly, as the City's population grew, so did its need for ever more distant hinterlands (defined as the area under cultivation that it takes to support a city of any size). Ergo, you might say Mars became the god of warfare-for-the-purpose-of-expanding-agriculture. We may, in hindsight, have taken things to an extreme, but I don't recall Him ever objecting... >({|;-)
(Now I really *must* see if my armor still fits!)
In fide,
Fasti: Friday, 6 March 2009
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Posted:
Thu Mar 05, 2009 5:37 am
by Aldus Marius
Salvete, amici Romani (martial or otherwise)!
The Fasti for Friday, 6 Martius:
Pridie Nonas Martias [C]
Dies Religiosus: FERIAE MARTI
From the SVR calendar:
* Feriae Marti continue with a supplicatio to Vesta and the Penates Publici: Worship at the shrine of Vesta, wish the Goddess joy and offer incense on the Ilian hearth. (Ovid, Fasti III.417-18)
* Augustus Caesar appointed pontifex maximus, 12 BCE.
In fide,
Fasti: Saturday and Sunday, 7-8 March 2009
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Posted:
Sat Mar 07, 2009 7:56 am
by Aldus Marius
Salvete, amici Romani!
Headin' on into a Roman weekend...the Fasti for Saturday, 7 Martius:
Nonae Martiae [F]
Dies Religiosus: FERIAE MARTI
* The Feriae Marti continue.
* Temple of Vediovis established between the two sacred groves on the Capitoline, 192 BCE.
* Death of Antonius Pius; ascension of divus Marcus Aurelius and divus Lucius Verus, 161 CE.
* Birth of the ill-fated Geta, co-emperor with Commodus, 189 CE.
And for Sunday, the 8th:
ante diem VIII Idus Martias [F]
Dies Ater; FERIAE MARTI
Notes: The day after the Kalends, Nones or Ides is considered unlucky.
* Feriae Marti proceed apace. >({|:-)
* Ariadne is given the Crown of Venus by Bacchus, becoming the goddess Libera.
In fide,
Fasti: Monday and Tuesday, 9-10 March 2009
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Posted:
Mon Mar 09, 2009 3:17 am
by Aldus Marius
Heia! Halali! --Welcome to the First Anniversary Edition of the Fasti! >({|:-D
I seem to be doing these in couplets nowadays. Very well; here's Monday and Tuesday.
The Fasti for Monday, 9 Martius:
ante diem VII Idus Martias [C]
Dies Religiosus: FERIAE MARTI
"Even modest affairs prosper with harmony." (Sallust, Jugurtha 10.11)
And for Tuesday the 10th:
ante diem VI Idus Martias [C]
Dies Religiosus, FERIAE MARTI
"When the pear is in bloom, you should begin also to plow." (Cato, de Agricultura 40)
In the news from my corner: Mama Cat's liking the indoor life; Junior Cat's getting neutered on the 10th; Curli-Su is adjusting to sharing me with two other pets...and Darla's coming home on the 20th.
IO!!! EVOE!!! OO-Rah!!! w00t!
In fide,
Fasti: Wednesday and Thursday, 11-12 Mar 2009
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Posted:
Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:09 am
by Aldus Marius
Salvete, amici Romani!
The Fasti for Wednesday, 11 Martius:
ante diem V Idus Martias [C] Religiosus, FERIAE MARTI
"Often there is wisdom beneath a dirty cloak." (Caecilius Statius 255) (Don't I know it!)
And for Thursday the 12th:
ante diem IV Idus Martias [C] Religiosus, FERIAE MARTI
* Feriae Marti continue
* Martyrdom of mathematician Hypatia at the hands of a Christian mob in Alexandria, 415CE.
In fide,
Fasti: Friday and Saturday, 13-14 Mar 2009
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Posted:
Fri Mar 13, 2009 3:56 am
by Aldus Marius
The Fasti for Friday, 13 Martius:
ante diem III Idus Martias [EN] Religiosus, FERIAE MARTI
* Feriae Marti continue (to the 24th)
* Alexander Severus saluted by the legions as imperator, with supplicationes made to Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, 222 CE
"Often, when one God burdens, another God brings help." (Ovid, Tristia 1.2.4)
And for Saturday the 14th:
Pridie Idus Martias [NP] Religiosus, FERIAE MARTI
* Mamuralia, commemorating when Veturius Mamurius, the artisan who made the ancillae held by the Salian priests, was driven from Rome. Reenactment of this legend was performed as a purification rite, all of the disease-producing spirits being driven by the Salii onto "Mamurius", who is then beaten out of the City.
* Equirria: Horse races on the Campus Martius honor Mars. "Today the circus holds all of Rome." (Juvenal 11.197)
* Alexander Severus' accession to the titles of Augustus, Pater Patriae, and pontifex maximus, 222 CE.
In fide,
Fasti: Sunday, 15 Mar 2009
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Posted:
Sat Mar 14, 2009 5:43 am
by Aldus Marius
Salvete omnes,
The Fasti for Sunday, 15 Martius:
Idibus Martiis [NP]
Dies Religiosus
FERIAE MARTI, FERIAE ANNAE PERENNAE, FERIAE IOVI
Notes: Every Ides is sacred to Iuppiter (Idibus alba iovi grandior agna cadit). -Ovidius
From the SVR calendar:
* Feriae Marti continue.
* Feriae Jovi
* Feriae Annae Perennae (the cycle of the years), when plebeians streamed from the City onto the Campus Martius to spend the day drinking wine and in revelry.
* Procession of the Palms made by the cannophori of Attis, leaving the City in search of His sacred pine.
And...what?? No mention, on either Calendar or [fasti] List, of the only reason most moderns even know this one Roman day?
...Ah; there he is; click for full-size view, and my apologies for the crappy scan:
Fasti: Monday, 16 Mar 2009
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Posted:
Sun Mar 15, 2009 5:39 am
by Aldus Marius
Salvete, amici Romani!
The Fasti for Monday, 16 Martius:
ante diem XVII Kalendas Apriles [F]
Dies Ater, FERIAE MARTI
From our SVR calendar:
* Feriae Marti continue.
* Compitalia, with procession of the pontifices and Vestal Virgins to the Argeorum sacella, where the straw puppets called Argei were stored until they could be sacrificed to Dis Pater on 14 May.
* Death of Emperor Tiberius, 37CE
In fide,
Fasti: Tuesday, 17 Mar 2009
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Posted:
Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:12 am
by Aldus Marius
Salvete, Romani viatores!
The Fasti for Tuesday, 17 Martius:
ante diem XVI Kalendas Apriles [NP] Religiosus
LIBERALIA
AGONIUM MARTIALE
Notes: The Liberalia (from Liber, or Liber Pater, a name of Bacchus) was a simple and innocent festival of Bacchus (Ovid. Fast. III.713). A description of the ceremonies customary at this festival is given by Ovid (l.c.), with which may be compared Varro (Varr. De Ling. Lat. V.55, ed. Bipont.).
Priests and aged priestesses, adorned with garlands of ivy, carried through the city wine, honey, cakes, and sweet-meats, together with an altar with a handle (ansata ara), in the middle of which there was a small fire-pan (foculus), in which from time to time sacrifices were burnt. On this day Roman youths who had attained their sixteenth year received the toga virilis (Cic. ad Att. VI.1). That the Liberalia were celebrated with various amusements, and great merriment, might be inferred from the general character of Dionysiac festivals; but we may also see it from the name Ludi Liberales, which is sometimes used instead of Liberalia; and Naevius (ap. Fest.) expressly says that persons expressed themselves very freely at the Liberalia.
On the Agonium Martiale a victim was offered by the Salii agonales on the Mons Quirinalis, hence sometimes called Mons Agonus, in honour of Mars, or more probably of Quirinus. (Cal. Vatic.).
And from the SVR calendar:
* Feriae Marti continue.
* LIBERALIA: On this day old women, the sacerdotas Liberi, wearing wreaths of ivy on their heads, sit in all parts of the City with libum cakes and a brazier, on which they offer up the cakes on behalf of any purchaser (Varro, de L.L. VI.14).
* AGONALIA: On this day the Rex Sacrorum sacrifices a ram to Mars in the Regia. The assistant, minister sacrificii, would ask "agone?" To which the Rex Sacrorum replied "Hoc age."
* Compitalia is the day assigned to the Lares Viales; therefore, where the crossroads meet, sacrifice is made at the compita. (Varro, de L.L. VI.25). "I call upon you, Lares Viales, that you may well protect me." (Plautus, Mercator 865).
* Victory of Julius Caesar at Munda, 45 BCE.
* Death of M. Aurelius and ascension of Commodus, 180 CE.
In fide,
Fasti: Wednesday, 18 Mar 2009
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Posted:
Tue Mar 17, 2009 7:15 am
by Aldus Marius
Salvete, amici Romani!
The Fasti for Wednesday, 18 Martius:
ante diem XV Kalendas Apriles [C] Religiosus, FERIAE MARTI
"O Liber, humbly now I approach Your altar; grant tranquil seas for me, Father Liber, and fair winds in my sails." (Propertius 3.17.1-2)
Or, as NR's M Minucius Audens signs his e-mails: Fair Winds and Following Seas!
In fide,
Fasti: 19 Mar 2009
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Posted:
Wed Mar 18, 2009 6:56 am
by Aldus Marius
Salvete,
The Fasti for Thursday, 19 Martius:
ante diem XIV Kalendas Apriles [NP] Religiosus
QUINQUATRUS
FERIAE MARTI
Notes: QUINQUATRUS or QUINQUATRIA, a festival sacred to Minerva, was so called according to Varro (de Ling. Lat. VI.14, ed. Müller), because it was the fifth day after the Ides. Both Varro and Festus state that the Quinquatrus was celebrated for only one day, but Ovid (Fast. III.809, etc.) says that it was celebrated for five days, and was for this reason called by this name: that on the first day no blood was shed, but that on the last four there were contests of gladiators. It would appear however that only the first day was the festival properly so called, and that the last four were merely an addition made perhaps in the time of Caesar to gratify the people, who had become so passionately fond of gladiatorial combats. The ancient Calendars too assign only one day to the festival.
Ovid says that this festival was celebrated in commemoration of the birth-day of Minerva; but according to Festus it was sacred to Minerva because her temple on the Aventine was consecrated on that day. On the fifth day of the festival, according to Ovid (III.849), the trumpets used in sacred rites were purified; but this seems to have been originally a separate festival called the Tubilustrium (Festus, s.v.; Varro, l.c.), which was celebrated as we know from the ancient Calendars on a. d. X. Cal. Apr., and would of course, when the Quinquatrus was extended to five days, fall on the last day of that festival.
(Note: We list the Tubilistrium separately, on the 23d; see the SVR calendar.)
* Feriae Marti continue.
* QUINQUATRUS: On the fifth day after the Ides the Salii were joined by the tribuni celerum, or cavalry officers, in the Comitium for a purification of the ancilae (sacred shields) and sacrifice to Mars, followed by a feast.
* MINERVALIA celebrating the dedications of the Temple of Minerva Capta on Caelian, c. 241 BCE, and the Temple of Minerva on Aventine, c. 105 BCE.
* Dies Artificum or Craftsmen's Day. (A bit like the US Labor Day, perhaps?)
In fide,
Fasti: Saturday and Sunday, 21-22 Mar 2009
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Posted:
Sat Mar 21, 2009 6:47 am
by Aldus Marius
Salvete omnes!
The Fasti for Saturday, 21 Martius:
ante diem XII Kalendas Apriles [C] Religiosus, FERIAE MARTI
* Feriae Marti continue.
* Septimatrus: Bellicose Mars, lay aside for awhile Your round bronze shield and spear. Mars, be present and let loose from its helmet Your sleek, shining hair. (Ovid, Fasti III.1-2).
* Birth of Ovid (appropriately enough), 43 BCE
And for Sunday the 22nd:
ante diem XI Kalendas Apriles [N] Religiosus, FERIAE MARTI
* Feriae Marti continue.
* Dies violae, on which flowers were lain at the tombs of loved ones.
* Attis arbor intrat: Procession of the pinetree of Attis into Rome, and its mock burial in the Forum.
In fide,
Fasti: Monday, 23 Mar 2009
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Posted:
Sun Mar 22, 2009 7:22 am
by Aldus Marius
Salvete,
The Fasti for Monday, 23 Martius:
ante diem X Kalendas Apriles [NP] Religiosus
TUBILUSTRIUM
FERIAE MARTI
Notes: The final day of the Quinquatrus in honor of Mars was called the Tubilustrium. The war trumpets (tubae) were purified on this day.
From the SVR calendar:
* Feriae Marti continue.
* TUBILUSTRIUM: Lustration (purification) of the tubae used to call the Comitia Curiata.
(Do you suppose they were the same tubae for both functions?)
In fide,