a.d. IV Id. Nov.
November 10 in Ancient Rome
Theodosius I returns to Constantinople
politicsAD 391
Julian date · ≈ Nov 11 on our calendar
After settling affairs in Rome and leaving Valentinian II in the West, Theodosius returned with his son Honorius and entered Constantinople on 10 November.
Valentinian II · Theodosius I · Honorius
Background
In 388 Theodosius I marched west and defeated the usurper Magnus Maximus, who had killed the emperor Gratian and driven the young Valentinian II out of Italy. Theodosius then spent three years in Italy putting the West in order. In 389 he made a formal visit to Rome with his son Honorius per Socrates and the panegyric of Pacatus, and in 390 he was famously forced to do public penance by Bishop Ambrose of Milan after troops massacred civilians at Thessalonica per Ambrose's letters and later church historians.
In 391 he left Valentinian II as nominal ruler of the West, under the guidance of the general Arbogast, and returned east. Socrates dates his entry into Constantinople to 10 November 391.
The arrangement soon collapsed. Valentinian II was found hanged in 392, and Arbogast raised the teacher Eugenius as emperor. Theodosius had to march west again and won the battle of the Frigidus in 394, months before his own death.
Ancient source: Socrates Scholasticus, Church History 5.18 · Reference
Sources
Read moreLudi Plebeii (Plebeian Games), Nov 4–17
Ludi Plebeii (Plebeian Games), Nov 4–17
festivalRepublic & Empire (annual)
Roman calendar date
The Plebeian Games filled two weeks of mid-November with theatre, a cavalry parade on the 14th and chariot races on the 15th–17th.
Ludi Plebeii (Plebeian Games)
Background
The Plebeian Games were the second great festival of games in the Roman year after the Ludi Romani of September. They were run by the plebeian aediles, junior magistrates who used them to win popularity before seeking higher office. Livy first mentions them in 216 BC; by the late Republic they filled roughly two weeks of November.
The programme mixed theatre, a sacred banquet for Jupiter (the Epulum Iovis, on the Ides), a parade of the cavalry and chariot races in the Circus Maximus at the end. Plautus' play Stichus was staged at these games in 200 BC, according to its production notice.
For ordinary Romans, games days were public holidays when shops and courts closed. Entry to the theatre and circus was free, though seating was arranged by rank. A family could spend a day watching comedies and races, but a day not working also meant a day without wages for labourers who depended on daily hire.
Ancient source: Fasti Maffeiani (Inscr. Ital. XIII.2: ludi plebeii 4–17 Nov.); Chronography of 354 (LVDI PLEBEI 12–15 Nov.); Livy 25.2.10 · Reference
Sources
☁ Rome today (1991–2020 avg): 17°/10°C (63°/50°F) · rain 41% of days
Rome in NovemberFor farmers, the weeks of ploughing and sowing were long and wet.
Columella
Beginning of winter; south wind or south-east wind; sometimes drizzle. (De Re Rust. 11.2)
Fields & crops
Main sowing of wheat and beans; Columella marks winter's start around 10 November and advises finishing sowing by the Kalends of December per Columella 11.2.
Courts & law
The Plebeian Games (4–17 Nov.) closed courts on many days; legal business resumed in late November late Republic.
Senate & politics
Elections for the next year's magistrates were sometimes delayed into autumn in troubled years; Cicero's First Catilinarian was delivered in November 63 BC.
Military
Sailing largely stopped from around 11 November per Vegetius, a late source; armies moved into winter quarters.
Festivals & religion
Ludi Plebeii with the Epulum Iovis on the Ides; in late antiquity the Isia of Isis (28 Oct.–1 Nov.) and the start of the Brumalia (24 Nov.) per the Chronography of 354.
Daily life
For farmers, the weeks of ploughing and sowing were long and wet. In Rome, the Plebeian Games brought free shows, but a holiday meant no pay for day labourers. With sea traffic stopped, city grain prices depended on what had been stored before winter.
The poor lived in crowded apartment blocks (insulae), where upper floors had no water or heating and braziers caused fires; Juvenal mocks the risk of collapse and fire satire, Juvenal 3.
Sources: Columella 11.2 · Chronography of 354 · Juvenal, Satire 3
All days in November →
LATIN LINE OF THE DAY
Non est vivere, sed valere vita est.
“Life is not just being alive, but being well.”
Martial, Epigrams 6.70 · translation ours (literal)
