a.d. X Kal. Sept.
August 23 in Ancient Rome
Volcanalia: live offerings to the fire god
Feeding the fire so it spares the city
festivalRepublic & Empire (annual)
Roman calendar date
At the Volcanalia, Varro says, people threw animals into the fire on their own behalf to Vulcan; the Calendar of 354 still marks the day with 24 circus races.
Volcanalia a Volcano, quod ei tum feriae et quod eo die populus pro se in ignem animalia mittit.
The Volcanalia are named from Vulcan, because then there is a holiday for him and because on that day the people throw animals into the fire on their own behalf.
Background
Late August in Rome was hot and dry, the granaries were full after the harvest, and fire was a constant threat in a crowded city. It was the time of the Volcanalia, the festival of Vulcan, god of fire and the forge.
Varro gives the festival a single sentence, but a striking one per Varro. The Volcanalia are named after Vulcan, he writes, "because there is a holiday for him then, and because on that day the people throw animals into the fire on their own behalf". Later writers say the animals were small fish, offered as substitutes for human lives, though this detail is not in Varro disputed. The idea seems to have been to give the fire god something so that he would spare houses and stored grain.
The festival lasted well into the Christian empire. The Calendar of 354, made for a wealthy Christian in Rome, still marks 23 August as VVLCANALICI, with twenty-four chariot races in the Circus. For many Romans by then the day probably meant a day at the races more than an offering to Vulcan, but the old date had survived for centuries.
Ancient source: Varro, De lingua Latina 6.20; Calendar of 354 (23 August: VVLCANALICI) · Reference
Sources
☁ Rome today (1991–2020 avg): 31°/20°C (88°/68°F) · rain 17% of days
Rome in AugustThe hottest weeks raised the risk of fire in the dense city, especially in…
Fields & crops
Columella marks autumn beginning around 12 August; straw and stubble were gathered, figs and early fruit picked, and vineyards readied for the vintage per Columella 11.2.
Courts & law
A quieter legal month; many elite Romans were in the countryside. Under the empire, the imperial household's slaves and freedmen kept administration running.
Senate & politics
Renamed from Sextilis in 8 BC for Augustus, who had won his greatest successes in this month, including the capture of Alexandria in 30 BC per Macrobius 1.12.35.
Military
Armies stayed in the field; disease in hot camps was often as dangerous as battle modern view based on ancient accounts.
Festivals & religion
Portunalia (17 Aug.), Vinalia Rustica (19 Aug.), Consualia (21 Aug.), Vulcanalia (23 Aug.), when small fish were offered to Vulcan to ward off fire, and Opiconsivia (25 Aug.) per Varro and Festus. On the Ides, Diana's day, enslaved people had a holiday per Festus and Plutarch.
Daily life
The hottest weeks raised the risk of fire in the dense city, especially in timber-framed insulae; Augustus set up the vigiles, a fire brigade of freedmen, in AD 6 per Suetonius and Dio. Fevers peaked in late summer and early autumn; the sick poor relied on home remedies and shrines more than on doctors modern view.
Sources: Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.12 · Columella 11.2
All days in August →
LATIN LINE OF THE DAY
Summum nec metuas diem nec optes.
“Neither fear your last day nor long for it.”
Martial, Epigrams 10.47 · translation ours (literal)
