a.d. VII Id. Dec.
December 7 in Ancient Rome
Murder of Cicero
death43 BC
Julian date · ≈ Dec 5 on our calendar
Proscribed at Antony's demand, Cicero was caught and killed near Formiae.
Mark Antony · Cicero
Background
Marcus Tullius Cicero, Rome's greatest orator and consul in 63 BC, had attacked Mark Antony in a series of speeches called the Philippics in 44–43 BC. When Antony, Octavian and Lepidus formed the Second Triumvirate in November 43, Antony insisted that Cicero be placed on the proscription list. Octavian, whom Cicero had supported, agreed per Plutarch, who says Octavian resisted for two days.
Cicero hesitated over whether to flee by sea. He was overtaken near his villa at Formiae. Plutarch says his slaves were ready to fight but he ordered them to set down his litter, and he stretched his neck out to the soldiers. A centurion named Herennius killed him per Plutarch; details vary. His head and hands, which had written the Philippics, were displayed on the Rostra in the Forum per Plutarch and Appian. The date, 7 December, is preserved via Cicero's freedman and secretary Tiro per Tacitus, Dialogus 17.
Cicero's letters, speeches and philosophical works survived and became central to European education. His death came to symbolise the end of the free Republic.
Approximate: leap years were misapplied in 45 BC–AD 8, so the exact day may shift by one or two days. Why?
Ancient source: Tacitus, Dialogus 17.2 (citing Tiro); Plutarch, Cicero 48 · Reference
Sources
☁ Rome today (1991–2020 avg): 13°/6°C (55°/43°F) · rain 37% of days
Rome in DecemberDecember's highlight was the Saturnalia (from 17 December).
Columella
South-west wind; sometimes south wind and drizzle. (De Re Rust. 11.2)
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
Ille sapit quisquis, Postume, vixit heri.
“The wise man, Postumus, is whoever lived yesterday.”
Martial, Epigrams 5.58 · translation ours (literal)
