N.S.Gill's Ancient / Classical History Blog

It's easy to say roughly what day it is in the Roman calendar, although there are problems with inaccuracy, especially before Caesar reformed the calendar, but in all, the Ides of March was approximately the 15th of March in Caesar's time as it is now. But the same can't be said of events in the Greek calendar -- even if we restrict it to the Athenian calendar. Today's date, based on the Athenian calendar, is the 6/7 of the month of Thargelion, in the 3rd year of the 696th Olympiad. This year, Thargelion runs from May 6/7 to June 4-5, 2008. Last year this was the month of Mounukhion. At least that is what it says on the calendar at HMEPA Hellenic Month Established Per Athens. A link to the HMEPA site was provided by ANCIEN-L@LISTSERV.LOUISVILLE.EDU.

Events for the Month of Monukhia, from the same site (Compiled List of Festivals):

• 4th day of Thargelion: Sacrifice to Leto, Pythian Apollon, Zeus, Hermes & Dioskuri at Erchia
• 6?7 Thargelia festival in honor of Apollon
  1st day Purification, driving out of the scapegoats
  2nd day Offering of the thargelos, mixed vegetables
• 16 Sacrifice to Zeus Epakrios at Erchia
• 19 Bendideia festival in honor of Bendis
• 19 Sacrifice to Menedeius at Erchia
• 25? Kallunteria spring cleaning of the Temple of Athene
• 25 Plunteria festival of washing

Roman Calendar Quiz
Roman Calendar Terminology - Nones, Kalends, Ides, and Pridie

In A.D. 330, Constantine the Great inaugurated his new capital city, the former Byzantium, which had started as a Greek colony in the 7th century B.C. Later to be known as Constantinople, at the time when Byzantium became the New Rome, Constantinople was still pagan. Constantinople remained the capital of the Byzantine Empire until 1453 when it became part of the Ottoman Empire.

• Byzantine Era
• Definition of Byzantine
• The Name Constantine
• Archaic Age Greece

On this day in ancient Rome, Romans appeased the spirits of the dead with beans.This was part of the Lemuria or Lemuralia, which was held on May 9, 11, and 13. Ovid describes the event in Book V of the Fasti. Also, from May 7-14, the Vestal Virgins prepared sacred cakes (mola salsa) for the Vestalia, held in June.

In modern history, Sir James Frazer died on this day in 1941.

In last night's newsletter, I sent out a link to an article on Roman Mothers. Rose Williams suggested that I had left out a couple of important ones and sent me excerpts from her book Duces Romanorum to go along with one of her top pick Roman mothers, Octavia (69 - 11 B.C.), sister of Augustus and wife of Mark Antony. This passage shows how saintly this good woman was:

Quamquam matrimonium cum femina aliena civile non erat et uxorem Octaviam habebat, Antonius Cleopatram in matrimonium duxit. Octavianus iratissimus adversus Antonium ob Octaviam sororem erat; haec una e plurimis causa belli in Antonium erat. Post mortem Antonii in Aegypto, Octavia benignitate amoreque quinque liberos suos ex matrimoniis cum Marcello et Antonio et liberos Antonii ex matrimoniis cum Fulvia et Cleopatra educavit.

Although marriage with a foreign woman was not legal and he had a wife, Octavia, Antony married Cleopatra. Octavian was very angry with Antony because of his sister; this was one of many causes of his war against Antony. After the death of Antony in Egypt, Octavia reared with kindness and love the five children of her marriages with Marcellus and Antony and the children of Antony from his marriages with Fulvia and Cleopatra.

Reviews of works by and more from Rose Williams:

• Review - The Labors of Aeneas by Vergil
• Review -Tres Porculi
• Review - Lighter Side of the Dark Ages
• Review - Cicero the Patriot
• Using Latin Vocabulary to Form English Verbs
• Ghost Stories: The Younger Pliny's Haunted House
• Latin Mottoes

Photo of painting by Jean-Joseph Taillasson (1787) showing Vergil reading the Aeneid to Augustus and Octavia. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

For the Western Church, the Christian holiday of Pentecost coincides with Mother's Day this year. For the Eastern Church, Pentecost will be on June 15, 2008, according to Nancy Gaifyllia, About.com's Guide to inspiring Greek foods. Pentecost is also a Jewish holiday known better as Shavuot, which will be held on June 9- 10.

Pentecost comes from a Greek word for 50 and refers to the 50th day following another special event. Easter is the Christian holiday. Like Easter, Pentecost falls on a Sunday. Pentecost is said to be 50 days after Easter because Easter and Pentecost are both counted when you use the inclusive counting method.

Pentecost celebrates "speaking in tongues". This is a reference to a section from Acts 2:1-4. Here's the relevant passage from the King James Version:

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

More on Pentecost.

Most of the women who were important in the history of ancient Rome were wives and mothers. From these roles they could exert influence over both their children and husbands. Motherhood itself was highly valued. However, just because a woman was able to produce children and marry an influential man did not mean that her name would come down to us. She had to be somewhat special -- for good or ill. Here are my picks for the most important mothers in ancient Roman history: Top Mothers in Ancient Rome.

Julia Soaemias Denarius Courtesy of Wikipedia.

Bingley, one of this site's guest writers and one of the bloggers for the Roman History Books and More blog, has come up with a great quiz for Falcophiles -- fans of Lindsey Davis' Roman mysteries featuring Marcus Didius Falco. After scoring 50% on the first quiz, which covers the first two books, I figured I'd better re-read before trying the second and third quizzes he's come up with: Venus in Copper, The Iron Hand of Mars, and Poseidon's Gold (Quiz 2) and Last Act in Palmyra, Time to Depart, and A Dying Light in Corduba (Quiz 3).

Lindsey Davis' Historical Fiction

Helena, mother of the first Christian emperor, Constantine I, traveled to the Holy Land where some believe she discovered the cross on which Jesus was crucified.

It is possible that Helena was born Christian, but it is thought that she converted. Details about her early life and even her death are scanty. Helena (Flavia Iulia Helena) was born in about 250 and died when she was about 80, according to Eusebius, sometimes called the father of Church history. Helena is thought to have come from Drepanum, in the Roman province of Bithynia [see map] because of the honor her son paid to the area.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, St. Helena's saint's day is May 21. In the Roman Catholic Church, it's August 18.

Read more about St. Helena.

Our month of May is named for the Greek goddess or spring goddess Maia.

This day in ancient Roman history was the anniversary of three Republican victories (Fasti Triumphales):

• 475 B.C. - P. Valerius triumphs over the Veientines and Sabines
• 326 B.C. - Q. Publilius triumph over Samnites.
• 110 B.C. - M. Livius triumph over Macedonians and Scordiscans.

See Wars of the Early Roman Republic

This Day in History
Quote of the Day

If you live in the US and have access to the SciFi Channel, you may want to watch this week's Doctor Who adventure. I'm biased. Doctor Who is probably my all-time favorite television program, an hour when people in my household address me only at their peril. But this week there is a "redeeming" feature to this obsession. Doctor Who and his companion are traveling to Pompeii in time to see the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. Mt. Vesuvius is a volcano that erupted on August 24 A.D. 79 blanketing the towns and 1000s of residents of Pompeii, Stabiae, and Herculaneum. Pompeii was buried 10' deep, while Herculaneum was buried under 75' of ash.

If you need a refresher on Pompeii, here are some suggestions:

• Read my article on Mt Vesuvius:
  What You Need to know about Mt. Vesuvius
• Read Pompeii, by Robert Harris
• Read about Pliny the Elder and the Eruption
• Read An Introduction to Wall Inscriptions From Pompeii and Herculaneum

Photo of human body from Pompeii courtesy of the Library of Congress.