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A fragment of the Fasti Ostienses that mentions Pharasmanes II of Iberia

The Fasti Ostienses is a fragmentary marble calendar (fasti) from Ostia dating from 49 BC to 175 AD. Ostia was a harbor town at the mouth of the Tiber, with ties to Rome extending into the legendary past. The most likely public space for displaying the Fasti Ostienses was the Temple of Vulcanus, the chief god of the town. Many of the events recorded are religious. For each year, the consuls are listed, followed by key events of national importance, then the local duoviri and sometimes local events.

The marble slabs on which the fasti was inscribed were dismantled and used for other purposes, perhaps in late antiquity under Christian rule, or even earlier, during the Severan dynasty.

Context of early Ostia

The earliest histories of Ostia date back to the 14th century BC. Archaeological records show that a small settlement of native peoples was established there due to an abundance of salt marshes directly to its east for exploitation. According to Titus Livius, Ostia was founded by Ancus Marcius, the fourth king of ancient Rome, during the late seventh century BC. It was initially made a colony (colonia) by Marcius and lies 30km to the west of Rome. The name itself is derived from Latin meaning "mouth," which refers geographically to it being situated at the mouth of the Tiber River. Ostia's original foundation was on an ephemeral dune belt, which had prograded exponentially at a rate of 5-6 metres per year . In the 5th to 4th century BC, the terrain was large enough for Ostia to expand and eventually serve as a principal seaport and the harbour city of Rome.

Description

An incomplete fragment of the Fasti Ostienses from the Imperial period.

A[nco ---]
Mar[cio ---]
re[gi ---]
quarto [a R]omul[o ---]
qui ab urb[e c]ondit[a ---]
[pri]mum colon[iam ---]
[---] dedux[it ---]

The oldest recovered fragment of the Fasti Ostienses date to the mid 1st century BC; however, it is evident that this period was not the beginning of the list. The creation of these fragments may have started around when Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix was appointed dictator by the Senate during 82-81 BC. The preservation of the Fasti Ostienses was likely one of the duties performed by the pontifex Vulcani et aedium sacrarum, a title held by the sacerdos of Ostia and is the equivalent position of the pontifex maximus in Rome. The fragments themselves would be displayed as cladding on the walls of the Temple of Vulcanus.

Although the fragments of the Fasti Ostienses found cover the span of two centuries, only three months of the inscriptions were comprehensible. Those that were transcribed offer detailed reports on not only Ostian events but Roman as well. The records of the calendar contained components of historiography such as consulship in the Republic and reign of an emperor during the Roman Empire. Notes on public events in the city of Ostia including festivals, plays, donation of congiaria and various feasts are also found on the fasti. However, a larger portion of the Fasti Ostienses was predominantly emphasized on events in Rome rather than Ostia itself. These recordings range from the passing and births within imperial families, triumphs of military victories, official meetings (curia), religious activities in Roman temples, and ludi. Given this vast amount of historical documentation, the entries were assumed to be recorded but not officially inscribed on the fragments until the end of each year. A source of information for the Fasti Ostienses may have been collected from the daily gazette of political and social events known as Acta Diurna, which served as the first "newspapers" for Roman citizens. These news of events, like the fasti, were inscribed on metal or stone and were posted in areas of great publicity such as the Roman Forum.

Layout of the fasti

Roman calendars (fasti), such as the Fasti Ostienses, were quite popular to the Roman people and various regions as they were carved into stone and publicly displayed on the sides of buildings and temples. There is a common style and format of the fasti with subtle differences depending on the region of where it originates. Each fasti is oriented vertically by days (28-31) from top to bottom and horizontally by months (12) from left to right. The top row of each month therefore indicates the kalends, or the first day of the month, of the 12 months according to the Julian calendar and is expressed with a letter "'k'". The text "NON" signifies the Nones, or the fifth day, and "'Eidus'" (Ides) as the thirteenth day.

Origins of the Roman calendar

Romulus's calendar

The creation of the first Roman calendar began during the reign of Romulus, Rome's first legendary king, in 753 BC. The calendar, which was attributed to parts of the ancient Greek calendar, consisted of 10 months in a year amounting to 304 days. The kalends of Martius signified the beginning of a new year due to the calendar's exclusion of Ianuarius and Februarius. Chronologically, the 10 months were named as follows: Martius ("March"), Aprilis ("April"), Maius ("May"), Iunius ("June"), Quintilis ("Quintilis"), Sextilis ("Sextilis"), September ("September"), October ("October"), November ("November"), December ("December").

Pompilius's reform

The last six months of this prehistoric Roman calendar were named in accordance with the Latin translation of the numbers five (quinque), six (sex), seven (septem), eight (octo), nine (novem), and ten (decem). Romans have been using this form of timekeeping up until the addition of January and February instituted by Numa Pompilius, the legendary second king of Rome, corresponding to 355 days a year. Pompilius was aware of the importance of following the solar year and made an attempt to compensate for the missing 10 days with the utilization of an intercalary month. This intercalary period, known as Mercedonius, consists of 23 or 24 days inserted after the 23rd of February biennially. This implies that a leap year of either 377 or 378 days occurred every other year. The kalends of Martius commenced after the final day of Mercedonius.

Caesar's reform

Pompilius's refined calendar was used throughout the regal period and until the Late Republic. After Gaius Julius Caesar became the sole ruler of Rome in 49 BC following his victory against the Optimates in the Great Roman Civil War, timekeeping was extremely out of line with the implementation of Mercedonius. During this reign, the calendar was off by six months, which does not bode well especially for farmers whose job depends on knowing the seasons to grow crop. Consequently, Mercedonius was eliminated and an extra six months were inserted for one of the years in the late 40 BC to align the calendar back on track. Caesar made a massive reform on the calendar by adding 10 days to the traditional 355 days in a year so that every month falls between the duration of 28 and 31 days. This new calendar had an approximate lag of a quarter of a day each year, which indicated that an additional day were to be inserted at the end of February after every four years starting from the year this measure was put to action. This reform is known as the Julian calendar, and is in essence similar to what is used today. Moreover, the month of Quintilis was renamed Julius ("July") in honor of Gaius Julius Caesar. Likewise, Sextilis was renamed Augustus ("August") in honor of the Roman emperor Augustus.

References

• Aldrete, Gregory S. Daily Life in the Roman City: Rome, Pompeii, and Ostia. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2004.

• Brehmer, Bernhard (Tübingen) “Fasti Ostienses,” Brill’s New Pauly. 2006 http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e410190

• Christer Bruun, Ritual Dynamics and Religious Change in the Roman Empire. Proceedings of the Eighth Workshop of the International Network Impact of Empire (Heidelberg, July 5–7, 2007). Leiden: Koninklijke Brill NV, 2009.

• “Early Ostia.” Ostia Harbour City of Rome. http://www.ostia-antica.org/intro.htm#2

• “Calendar of Romulus.” The Roman Calendar. https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/roman-calendar.html

• "Early Roman Calendar." Calendars through the Ages. http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-roman.html

Edition

• Ladislav Vidman, Fasti Ostienses: edendos, illustrandos, restituendos, second edition (Prague: Československá Akademie, 1982).

External links

Image credits

• Fausto Zevi: http://www.ostia-antica.org/intro.htm#23
• http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/year-text-Fasti.html

See also

• List of ancient Roman fasti