a.d. IX Kal. Ian.
December 24 in Ancient Rome
Birth of Galba
birth3 BC
Julian date · ≈ Dec 22 on our calendar
Galba, emperor in 68–69, was born near Tarracina.
Galba
Background
Servius Sulpicius Galba was born on 24 December 3 BC in a villa on a hill near Tarracina (Terracina), on the left as one goes toward Fundi per Suetonius. He came from one of Rome's oldest noble families, and Suetonius says Augustus pinched his cheek when he was a boy and predicted he would have "a taste of our power", while Tiberius was told he would rule in old age per Suetonius; such omens were often invented after the fact.
Galba had a long career as general and governor under Caligula, Claudius and Nero, with a reputation for strict discipline and stinginess. In 68, as governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, aged over 70, he joined the revolt against Nero. After Nero's suicide the Senate recognised him as emperor.
His reign lasted only seven months. He refused to pay the donative promised to the Praetorian Guard in his name, saying he chose soldiers, he did not buy them per Tacitus and Suetonius. On 15 January 69 the guard killed him in the Forum and proclaimed Otho, opening the "year of the four emperors".
Approximate: leap years were misapplied in 45 BC–AD 8, so the exact day may shift by one or two days. Why?
Ancient source: Suetonius, Galba 4 · Reference
Sources
☁ Rome today (1991–2020 avg): 12°/5°C (54°/41°F) · rain 36% of days
Rome in DecemberDecember's highlight was the Saturnalia (from 17 December).
Fields & crops
Olive picking and pressing, wood-cutting, and indoor work on rainy days; sowing ideally finished by the Kalends per Columella 11.2.
Courts & law
Courts closed for the Saturnalia; quaestors gave gladiatorial shows in December in late antiquity per the Chronography of 354.
Senate & politics
New tribunes of the plebs entered office on 10 December; outgoing magistrates closed their accounts before the year ended Republic.
Military
Winter quarters. Soldiers too kept the Saturnalia, choosing a mock 'king' per the Acts of Dasius, a late and disputed martyr text.
Festivals & religion
Faunalia (5 Dec.), Agonalia and Septimontium (11 Dec.), Consualia (15 Dec.), Saturnalia (from 17 Dec.), Opalia (19 Dec.), Divalia (21 Dec.), Larentalia (23 Dec.), and later the birthday of Sol Invictus (25 Dec.).
Daily life
December's highlight was the Saturnalia (from 17 December). Business stopped, people wore the casual pilleus cap and gave small gifts, and households let enslaved people eat with, or even be served by, their owners per Macrobius 1.7, Seneca Ep. 47. Seneca, though, notes that the inversion lasted only days; the rest of the year enslaved people stood silent and hungry while masters dined, and could be beaten for a cough per Seneca, Ep. 47. Seneca himself grumbled that the whole city "sweats" with feasting Seneca, Ep. 18.
On farms, olives were picked and pressed, and enslaved workers repaired tools and baskets on rainy days per Columella 11.2.
Sources: Varro, De Lingua Latina 6 · Chronography of 354 · Seneca, Epistles 18 and 47 · Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.7–10
All days in December →
LATIN LINE OF THE DAY
Hominem pagina nostra sapit.
“My page tastes of humanity.”
Martial, Epigrams 10.4 · translation ours (literal)
