ROME

Ides to Life

PARAKAVEDEKATRIAPHOBIOAa specialized form of

TRISKAIDEKAPHOBIAa fear of the number 13

ORIGINS?

No definitive answer! However, some date it back to Ancient Rome and their fear of 13 evil witches and the fact that Friday was execution day. Friday was also the day of Venus in Rome & obviously the love goddess had to be evil.

One argument dates it to the Last Supper that took place on a Friday and the 13 guests-the 13th was Judas (or was it Mary Magdalene?)

Some say that the arrest of the Grand Master of the Knights Templar and 60 of his senior knights of Friday October 13, 1307 by King Philip IV of France is the origin of this superstition. That day thousands of Templars were arrested and subsequently tortured. (Beware the Da Vinci Code!)

Do you have a grudge?

Beware the Ides of March

The term Ides comes from the earliest Roman calendar, which is said to have been devised by Romulus, the mythical founder of Rome. Whether it was Romulus or not, the inventor of this calendar had a penchant for complexity. The Roman calendar organized its months around three days, each of which served as a reference point for counting the other days:

Kalends (1st day of the month) (Calendar - Kalendrium means account book & dayTo pay bills.Nones (the 7th day in March, May, July, and October; the 5th in the other months)Ides (the 15th day in March, May, July, and October; the 13th in the other months)

Julian calendar: the calendar established by Julius Caesar in 46 b.c., fixing the length of the year at 365 days and at 366 days every fourth year. There are 12 months of 30 or 31 days, except for February (which has 28 days with the exception of every fourth year, or leap year, when it has 29 days). Gregorian calendar: The Gregorian calendar system dealt problems by dropping a certain number of days to bring the calendar back into synchronization with the seasons, and then slightly shortening the average number of days in a calendar year, by omitting three Julian leap-days every 400 years. (1582)

FRIDAY 13th:

Breaking with the ancient tradition of the New Year starting in Spring the Julian Calendar begins the year on January 1--January named after Janus with two faces. He looks back at the past year and looks ahead at the arriving new year. This day was a day of vows and gifts, which one should only say words of good omen. After a procession each Consul inaugurates his magistracy sacrificing to Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva and salutes the health of Rome and the senate. The the people throw coins during the vows to bring good luck. White heifers are sacrificed and fed to the masses.

DECEMBER 25

February 14February 15

FEBRUARY 14 WAS A DAY TO HONOR JUNO THE QUEEN OF THE ROMAN GODS AND GODDESSES. THE ROMANS ALSO KNEW HER AS THE GODDESS OF WOMAN & MARRIAGE.

THE FOLLOWING DAY, FEBRUARY 15, BEGAN THE FEAST OF LUPERCALIA. ONE OF THE CUSTOMS OF YOUNG PEOPLE WAS NAME DRAWING. EACH YOUNG MAN WOULD DRAW A GIRL’S NAME FROM A JAR AND WOULD THEN BE PARTNERS FOR THE DURATION OF THE FESTIVAL WITH THE GIRL WHOM HE CHOSE.

Around 269 CE the Emperor Claudius II was having a heck of a time getting soldiers to join his legions. He believed the men did not want to leave their loves or families. Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome. A priest Valentine married couples, He was beaten to death and had his head cut off. The story is that it occurred on February 14. In 486 Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honor St. Valentine.

1. Franks2. Anglo-Saxons3. Burgundians4. Visigoth's5. Vandals6. Sueves7. Astrogoths8. Lombard's9. Hureli10. Huns

The meaning of the most common origin of 666 is still debated today. Some scholars contend that the number is a code for the roman emperor nero.

The Capital City Town Life: Sanitation, Middle Class,

Politics Religion The Social Order: Employment and

Unemployment, Slavery Leisure Activities: Public Baths, Dining,

Games and Other Spectacles Literature

THE CAPITAL CITYTHE CAPITAL CITY

TOWN LIFE

Priapis

RELIGIONROMANJupiter, Juno, Minerva, Vesta, Ceres, Diana, Venus, Mars, Mercurius, Neptunus, Volcanus, and Apollo.

GREEKZeus, Hera, AthenaHestia. Demeter, Artemis, Aphrodite, Ares, Hermes,Poseidon,Hephaestus andApollo

SOCIAL ORDER

Leisure Activities

Besides board gamesRoman children had seesaws, swings, kites, hoops and toy houses.Girls had wood dolls toplay with.

LITERATURE

Histories: Livy,Polybius, Tacitus, Seutonius

Letters: Pliny the Younger Plays: Seneca,Plautus Philosophy: Seneca, Cicero, Lucretius Poetry: Virgil, Ovid, Catulus, Horace

ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME