A Slave's Day Off

We call it August 13, but the Romans knew it as the ides of the sixth month until the period of the early Empire when August was re-named in honor of Augustus. The ides of the sixth month (August) was a special one for the goddess Diana (Greek Artemis). Part of this day's festivities was the washing of women's hair. Among its other odd properties, this day "involved a general day's holiday for all slaves," according to H.H.Scullard in Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic.

Why would the hunter and virgin goddess Diana be associated with slaves?

The connection comes from the fact that her temple was used as a sanctuary for runaway slaves.

Read more about:

• The Roman Calendar
• Events in the August Calendar
• Artemis/Diana