BlackCat Systems

February 2009

How The Calendar Was Used

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To us, it might seem like just a silly question. We use a calendar to log our personal movements, to check our personal schedule, to record items of personal interest. The key word in the usage of a modern calendar is the word personal.

The Roman calendar was anything but personal. It was a public record of what could and could not be done that day.

Week Days Days were marked 'A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'E', 'F', 'G', 'H'. If the year began on an 'A' day, it does not necessarily follow that the next month will also begin on an 'A' day. The Roman weekday position was not fixed as in our culture. Moving of the start of the week would be the equivalent if we wrote the months of January and February 2009 in the following manner: Because January begins on a Thursday, our month display would start on Thursday. As February starts on a Sunday, so its weekdays for that month would begin on Sunday.

January 2009
Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	31

Market Day This was every 8th day. No work was done on this day. The 8th day rotated from year to year.

Festival Days Occurred at the pronouncement of the PONMAX (head priest) or Emperor. Not all festival days were days off, but rather days were the Roman was expected to visit the Temple, make an offering or a prayer, and remember the significance of the day. Other festivals such as the Saturnalia lasted for many days.

The calendar specified which days one could work, assemble, bring legal action perhaps the 4 most important types of days are:

C	*comitialis*	Assemblies are held on this day.
EN	*endotercisus*	Half-half day; Mornings are N, afternoons are F
F	*fastus*	Ordinary Working Day.
N	*dies nefasti*	No legal action or public voting takes place on this day.
NP	*nefastus publicus*	A great public festival occurs on this day.

As for the festivals themselves, the vast majority of them stem from very early Roman/Etruscan roots.

AGON	Agones	Public festivals in which participants contented for a prize.
ARMI	Armilustrium	Festival for the purification of arms.
C	*comitialis*	Assemblies are held on this day.
CAR	Carmentalia	Roman festival, celebrating the nymphs of prophecy. They are identified with the nine Muses. The chief of these nymphs was known as Carmentis, goddess of prophecy, who also protected women in childbirth. Also, Juturna was worshiped on this day in ancient Rome.
CERIA	Ludi Ceriales	Chariot racing to the goddess Ceres.
CONS	Consualia	This ancient religious festival featured races on foot and on muleback,
DIVAL	Divalia	Winter Solstice.
EN	*endotercisus*	Half-half day; Mornings are N, afternoons are F.
EQVIR	Equiria	Horse races instituted by Romulus in honor of Mars, and were celebrated in the Campus Martius.
F	*fastus*	Ordinary Working Day.
FERA	Feralia	All Souls Day. This was the last day in the 'dies parentales' which began on February 13. It is a public festival of the dead when food was taken to the family tombs.
FONT	Fontinalia	Festival where holy wells and springs were venerated.
FORDI	Fordicidia	Roman festival of Tellus
FVR	Furrinalia	Festival to the Goddess Furrinalia, protectress of springs.
IDVS	Ides	The Ides.
K	Kalends	The Kalends.
LARE	Larentalia	Festival in honor of Acca Larentia, the wife of Faustulus and the nurse of Romulus and Remus. This festival marks the end of the Saturnalia period.
LEM	Lemuria	Hungry ghosts wander about the house and are dispelled by leaving them food.
LIBER	Liberalia	Festival to God Liber (Roman Dionysos)
LVCAR	Lucaria	Commemorates the day of defeat of the Roman army by the Gauls in 390 BC. Romans hid in the woods (lucus) and the remnants returned to defeat the Gauls on their way back home.
LVPER	Lupercalia	Sacrifice and festival to the God Faunus. The focal point of this festival was a site on the Palatine hill: the Lupercal, the cave in which, according to legend, the she-wolf suckled Romulus and Remus.
MATR	Matralia	Festival to the Goddess of Growth was conducted by women, who prayed for children.
MEDI	Meditrinalia	Festival to Jupiter, in his form as the wine-god, and Meditrina, goddess of healing and medicine.
N	*dies nefasti*	No legal action or public voting takes place on this day.
NEPT	Neptunalia and Salacia	The celebration of the sea god, Neptune and his wife, Salacia. She is the goddess of wide open and salty sea. She also rules over the springs of mineralized waters
NON	Nones	The Nones.
NP	*nefastus publicus*	A great public festival occurs on this day.
OPA	Opalia	Roman festival in honor of Opis, wife of Saturnus.
OPIC	Opiconsivia	Festival to the Goddess Ops.
PARIL	Parilia	Festival of the Goddess Pales.
POPLI	Poplifugia	Mystery festival. There is speculation that within this ceremony a ritual was performed which was supposed to have evoked terrible powers whose presence must be avoided.
PORT	Portunalia	Festival to Roman God Portunus, protector of doors and heavens.
Q.R.C.F.	Quando Rex Comitiavit Fas	The symbolical flight of the Rex Sacrorum from the comitium; the king-priest was generally not allowed to appear in the comitium, which was destined for the transaction of political matters in which he could not take part. But on this day, he had to go to the comitium for the purpose of offering certain sacrifices, and immediately after he had performed his functions there, he hastily fled from it.
Q.ST.D.F.	Quando Stercus Delatum Fas	Ritual disposal of the dirt from the temple of Vesta
QVIN	Quinquennalia	Games instituted by Nero in AD 60. They were an imitation of the Greek festivals and celebrated every 5 years. The festival appears to have disappeared after Nero's death in 68 AD.
QVIR	Quirinus	Festival to Quirinus, who regularly appeared with Jupiter and Mars
REGIF	Regifugium	Commemorates of the flight of king Tarquinius Superbus from Rome.
ROBIG	Robigalia	Wheat festival.
SATVR	Saturnalia	The most important festival of the year was held in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture. During the main feast day of this festival, the masters of every household in Rome waited upon their domestic slaves. The Saturalia ran for several days.
TERM	Terminalia	Sacrifice and offerings made to the God Terminus, the traditional 'last day' of the year. The leap day goes after this day.
TVBIL	Tubilustrium	Purification of the trumpets.
VEST	Vestalia	Ritual cleaning of the building belonging to the Goddess Vesta.
VINAL	Vinalia	Roman festival offering the ripening grapes to Venus, the guardian of vineyards, gardens, and olive groves.
VOLK	Volcanalia	Festival in honor of the God Vulcan.
VOLT	Volturnalia	Festival to Volturnus, God of the waters.

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