Nundinum
The term Nūndinum ( Latin Nūndinae , German "nine days " ) used in the Roman Empire denotes a nine-day period. Because of the inclusive counting that was customary at the time (the first piece is counted), it is only an eight-day period.
With Nundinae which were also market days referred to, which were embedded in the Roman Eight days a week.
Nundinae as a Feriae
In the Roman calendar , the Nundinae were connected to the four fixed days Kalenden , Nonen , Iden and Tubilustrium , which could also be subject to double counting in their calendar function. In this respect, a range of 28 to 31 days was possible for four calendar Nundinae. The Nundinae always began at noon on one of the four fixed calendar days.
From 287 B.C. The Nundinae possessed due to the Lex Hortensia Feriae character and led in the later Roman Republic as Fas days, a meeting ban. The Roman historian and antiquarian Granius Licinianus assumed in his writings, which he wrote in the 2nd century AD, that the Nundinae were also the days of Jupiter's sacrifice ( feriae Iovis ). Iulius Modestus , a Latin grammarian of the early 1st century AD, added that the pontifices did not see the Nundinae as a fair. However, it is documented that the god Jupiter received offerings from the Flaminica in the Regia on the Nundinae .
Nundinae and the Nundinal cycle
Around 254 BC Comedy poet Plautus , born in the 4th century BC, associated the Nundinae with a special status, since on these days a cook with special knowledge prepared elaborate dishes. Varro also knows that there were no school lessons at the Nundinae and that “people shaved their beards”. In contrast, there is no evidence of the special role of the Nundinae in the later period. Closer investigations suggest that the special character of the Nundinae related to the Nundinal cycle .
The coincidence of the Nundinae market days with the four orientation days of the Roman calendar is first documented at the end of the Roman Republic . Similar constellations can also be found for Feriae days, whereby some of these Feriae days retained their festive character, but still did not prevent the holding of the market day, as the entries in the Fasti Amiterni for July 15 and 19 as NP days show. Only very important occasions justified a postponement of the market days. The decisive criterion for the decision to postpone market days was not subject to any religious motives, but was mostly based on the type of festival, the unhindered orientation of which was to be taken into account with the postponement. Macrobius refers to another basis that was used to move the market day in 78 BC. Was responsible:
“It often happens that the Nundinae fall on the first day of the year, or the Nones . Two circumstances that were viewed as particularly negative omen for the Roman Republic. To prevent a meeting with the markets, the holding of the market day had to be postponed. "
Cassius Dio only casually described the change of market day for the year 44 AD because it coincided with another important festival day, since such changes "have happened often before". In contrast, from Cassius Dio for the year 52 BC. The holding of the market day on a New Year's day is documented, which was not postponed only because of favorable omens:
“So nothing happened in proper order. The market was held this time on the first of January . Because you did not consider it a coincidence, but as a portent, it frightened the Romans less than that an owl was seen in the city ... It was also, in my view, the same last year to expiration on the Serapis and Isis aggregate Decision to be seen as no less premonitory. Because their temples, which were built at the expense of individuals, had to be torn down by order of the Senate ... and even when their public veneration was finally enforced, their temples were only allowed to be built outside the city wall. "
Replacement of the nundinal cycle by the 7-day week
When the Nundinal cycle gave way to the 7-day week in daily life in Rome or in Roman rule is unclear in detail. Legally, the 7-day week can only be legally binding with Emperor Constantine from 321 AD in the legislation on freedom of work and court days on Sundays.
literature
- Jörg Rüpke : Calendar and Public: The History of Representation and Religious Qualification of Time in Rome . de Gruyter, Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-11-014514-6
Individual evidence
- ^ Jörg Rüpke: Calendar and Public: The History of Representation and Religious Qualification of Time in Rome . P. 275.
- ↑ Varro, Menippeae 186: Quotiens priscus homo ac rusticus Romanus inter Nundinum barbar radebat?
- ^ Jörg Rüpke: Calendar and Public: The History of Representation and Religious Qualification of Time in Rome . Pp. 454-456.
- ^ Cassius Dio: Roman History . Vol. 60, 24.7.
- ↑ Codex Theodosianus 2,8,1 ( Memento of the original from November 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
