The Roman Festival Calendar

These are the months of the Roman calendar, with the Latin name and the English equivalent. The principal holy days of the late Republic and early Empire are listed for each month. Movable feast days, holy days that could have a different date assigned to them each year, are generally not included in these lists.

Ianuarius    January

Februarius    February

Martius    March

Aprilis    April

Maius    May

Iunius    June

Iulius    July

Augustus    August

September    September

October    October

November    November

December    December

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Commentary

This is a calendar of Roman festivals and holy days. It includes named festivals, other days sacred to various deities or days on which it was customary to make offerings to the Gods, the dedication dates of temples in the city of Rome, and the days of the Ludi, or Games. Some popular non Roman festivals are also listed. The festivals are shown with the maximum number of days allocated to them during the Imperial era. Some festivals that were originally celebrated on a single day during the early Republic were lengthened to several days during the later Republic and Empire. The Saturnalia, for instance, was originally a one day festival, but was expanded to seven days during the Empire. Many of the festivals and holy days listed here were very specific to the city of Rome, and were not necessarily observed outside the immediate area of the City. Some festivals were more regional in character; the Saturnalia seems to have been celebrated throughout Italy, and by Roman citizens of Italian origin wherever they were living.

Most of the named festival days originated in the early days of the Republic. Some of these festivals fell into obscurity in later years, and were ignored or forgotten by most people, even though the festivals were still listed on the calendars.

The dedication date of a temple, shrine, or altar could become an annual holy day. Such a day might be observed throughout the City, or it might be a local neighborhood event, perhaps observed only by the custodians of the shrine. Dedication days are listed here as "natales templorum", which means "birthday of the temple" in Latin.

Festival days and holy days were not holidays in the modern sense. In theory, work was not to be performed during times of religious observance. In practice, this meant that any work that was within view of a religious ceremony or procession would be stopped while the ceremony or procession was taking place, and then be resumed after the ceremony was over, or the procession had passed out of sight.

The Ludi, or Games, consisted of several days of plays presented in the theaters and a concluding day of chariot races in the Circus. There might also be a parade on the last day of the Games, with images of the Gods carried in procession through the Circus. Some of the Ludi originated in the early Republic, but additional Ludi were instituted from time to time. It is not known how long the various Ludi persisted through time. The Games held to commemorate the military victories of Sulla and Julius Caesar, for instance, continued to be celebrated for many years after Sulla and Caesar had died, but they were not celebrated forever. The general scheme of the Ludi - plays, chariot races, and a procession - appears to have been inspired by Greek practices.

Munera, or Gladitorial Exhibitions, were held at irregular intervals and were not part of the festival calendar until late in the Imperial era. Ten days of Munera were added to December in the fourth century ce, apparently by one of the Christian emperors.

The first day of the Roman month was called the Kalends, from which the modern word calendar is derived. The middle of the month was called the Ides. Nine days before the Ides was a day called the Nones. The other days of the month were not named. A day would be defined as being so many days before or after one of the named days. Calendars throughout most of Italy were divided into eight day periods called Nundinae. The eighth day of a Nundinae was a market day. Different cities and communities often had different Nundinae, so that neighboring cities would not hold markets on the same day. The Babylonian concept of the seven day week, with names for the seven days, was widely known by the first century ce and gradually replaced the Nundinae during the Imperial era.

The days of the Roman calendar were marked as dies fasti, dies nefasti, or dies comitiales. A dies comitiales was available for meetings of the public assemblies, the comitia, the Senate, and most legal business. A dies fasti was generally available only for judicial proceedings. The named festival days were classified as dies nefasti. A dies nefasti was generally not available for governmental meetings or legal proceedings of any kind. The customs and rules concerning the days eligible for governmental meetings and legal business varied over the centuries. The classification of individual days as fasti, nefasti, or comitiales was also changed from time to time.

Sacred Calendars    Italian Deities    Religion    General Index

Sources

Life and Leisure in Ancient Rome, by J.P.V. Balsdon, McGraw Hill Book Company 1969

The Roman Festival Calendar of Numa Pompilius, by Michael York, Peter Lang 1986

The Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by S. Hornblower and A. Spawforth, Oxford University Press 1996

Latin Dictionary, ed. by V. Babusis and M. Stearns, Follet Publishing Company 1967

Religions of Rome Volume I, by Mary Beard, John North, and Simon Price, Cambridge University Press 1998

A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, by L. Richardson, John Hopkins University Press 1992