CLST 103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Parilia, Mount Vesuvius, Tephra
15 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
WEEK 6
February 13, 2017
Test on February 28th
Tested on chapters 1-5 until page 150.
Review sessions on Monday 27th: 4:30-6 watson 217 or 7-8:30 watson 517
Town and country:
- Roman society, culture and civilization were urban
- Country was a kind of extension of the town
- Touring seasons:
o August – October
o March – April
▪ Note – their years started in March
o Only the wealthy left to go on vacation
o Many could not afford it
- Working seasons:
o November – February
▪ November was the time of pressing the olives and making oil
o May – July
▪ Period of harvest
▪ July – harvested grain
- Sailing season:
o April – September
Parilia
- Sometimes spelt Palilia
- In honour of the goddess of shepherds Pales
- Celebrated on April 21 (birthday of Rome)
- There were some sacrifices
Agriculture around Mt. Vesuvius is very fertile.
Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius
- August 24th-25th 79 AD
- The buildings near the volcano were covered in tephra
- the ashes covered everything which made it possible to make casts of objects and humans
February 14, 2017
The Suburb:
- Titus Annius Milo charged murdering Publius Clodius Pulcher
o Milo changed his clothes because senators wore specific clothes (tunica) and red
shoes
The calendar of Romulus
- It was determined by the cycles of the moon and the seasons of the agricultural year
- There were 10 months: from March- December
- 304 days
- The two months of winter were not counted
The calendar of Numa Pompilius
- Divided the year in 12 lunar months and 50 days – January and February were added
- Made a final count of 354 days and 1 day is added because of the roman superstition
about even numbers
450 BCE
- Revised calendar by the Decemviri as part of the Twelve Tables
- Lunar calendar vs earth annual orbit
College of pontiffs
- Responsible for regulating the calendar and intercalating additional days
- Since intercalation was considered unlucky, the additional days were not always added.
- The pontiffs were priests]16 by the time of Caesar
- They had authority over religious matters
- Pontifex Maximus = chief priest (for life)
153 BCE
- Consuls started to enter upon their service on January 1st
- January became the first month of the year – originally it was march
The calendar of Caesar:
- In 46 BCE he became pontifex maximus
- 44 BCE became dictator
- Ultimus annus confusionis = the last year of confusion
o Had 445 days
- The calendar we have now was created in 45 BCE
Document Summary
Review sessions on monday 27th: 4:30-6 watson 217 or 7-8:30 watson 517. Roman society, culture and civilization were urban. Country was a kind of extension of the town. Touring seasons: august october, march april, note their years started in march, only the wealthy left to go on vacation, many could not afford it. Working seasons: november february, november was the time of pressing the olives and making oil, may july, period of harvest, july harvested grain. In honour of the goddess of shepherds pales. Celebrated on april 21 (birthday of rome) The buildings near the volcano were covered in tephra the ashes covered everything which made it possible to make casts of objects and humans. Titus annius milo charged murdering publius clodius pulcher: milo changed his clothes because senators wore specific clothes (tunica) and red shoes. It was determined by the cycles of the moon and the seasons of the agricultural year. There were 10 months: from march- december.
