a.d. IV Kal. Feb.
January 29 in Ancient Rome
Sacrifice banned, but temple art protected
religionAD 399
Julian date · ≈ Jan 30 on our calendar
Honorius wrote to officials in Spain and Gaul that although sacrifices were forbidden, the ornaments of public buildings must be preserved, and no rescript or law could be cited as cover for tearing them down.
Honorius
Background
By the 390s the emperors had outlawed animal sacrifice and closed many temples, and in some places Christian crowds and officials were tearing down temple buildings and statues. Others, including many Christians, valued the old monuments as the beauty of their cities.
This law of 399, sent by Honorius to the vicars of Spain and of the Five Provinces (southern Gaul), drew a line: sacrifices remained forbidden, but the ornaments of public buildings were to be preserved. People destroying them could not shelter behind any rescript or law they claimed allowed it; such documents were to be taken from them and sent to the court, and anyone who had misused the public post was liable to a fine of two pounds of gold.
For townspeople, the law kept familiar statues and decorations in squares and baths, now treated as civic art rather than objects of worship.
Ancient source: Theodosian Code 16.10.15 · Reference
Sources
☁ Rome today (1991–2020 avg): 12°/3°C (54°/37°F) · rain 32% of days
Rome in JanuaryThe Kalends of January opened the civil year, with new consuls, vows for the…
Fields & crops
Little field work: Columella says pious farmers rested before the Kalends and restarted every task on 1 January for luck; after the Ides, pruning and weeding of autumn-sown grain resumed per Columella 11.2.
Courts & law
Courts reopened after the Saturnalia. New magistrates took up their duties, and the praetor's edict, the rules for his year in office, was posted late Republic.
Senate & politics
From 153 BC the consuls took office on 1 January, sacrificing on the Capitol; the year was named after them. In the empire, officials and soldiers renewed vows for the emperor's safety on 3 January varies by era.
Military
Armies sat in winter quarters; campaigning in snow was rare and feared. Soldiers on the frontiers renewed their oath to the emperor at the start of the year imperial era.
Festivals & religion
Janus, god of doorways and beginnings, was honoured on the Kalends; the Agonalia (9 Jan.), the Carmentalia for the birth-goddess Carmenta (11 and 15 Jan.) and the movable Compitalia at crossroads shrines followed per Ovid, Fasti 1.
Daily life
The Kalends of January opened the civil year, with new consuls, vows for the emperor's safety and small gifts (strenae) of dates, figs and coins for good luck per Ovid, Fasti 1. The Kalends of every month was also when interest fell due, so for debtors the first of the month could be dreaded; the account book itself was called the kalendarium per Seneca and the Digest.
Winter was the hungry season for many. Rome's free monthly grain ration helped only registered male citizens (about 200,000 under Augustus) per Suetonius, Aug. 40, and Res Gestae 15; others bought at market prices. Columella says pious farmers did no field work in the days before the Kalends and restarted every kind of work on 1 January for good omen per Columella 11.2.
Sources: Ovid, Fasti 1 · Columella 11.2 · Suetonius, Augustus 40–42
All days in January →
LATIN LINE OF THE DAY
Sunt bona, sunt quaedam mediocria, sunt mala plura quae legis hic.
“Some are good, some middling, more are bad, of what you read here.”
Martial, Epigrams 1.16 · translation ours (literal)
