Category: Italy

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The Month of Love Roman Months April 15th

Roman Months, and April the Month of Love – Table from Wikipedia

I have spoken about the Roman Calendar in previous posts. Today, I’m concentrating on the Months.

The Romans wrote about a ‘legendary’ calendar, set up by Romulus when he founded Rome. It consisted of 10 months of 30 and 31 days followed by a winter period not divided into months. This allowed them to extend the year so that it fitted into the Celestial cycle. The year began in March, suitable names were given to March, April, May and June.

April was Aphrodite’s month.  The goddess of love and beauty.  Hence the month of love.  It is also National Couple Appreciation Month!

Having given names to June the Romans gave up and the next 6 months were given numbers as in the diagram above.

The Calendar was not well regulated and the months eventually began to lose their integration with the seasons, and needed reform.

photo of november calendar
Photo by Manasvita S on Unsplash

The Calendar was reformed several times. January and February were added by the legendary Numa Pompilius about 713 BC replacing the monthless winter period. But, Julius Caesar undertook the major reform in 46BC. This was the so-called ‘Year of Confusion’. This first year was 445 days long. This is how far out of sync the Calendar had got. The Julian Calendar realigned the calendar to the seasons.

The Year began on January 1st, with 365 days, 12 months and a 4 year leap year cycle. This held sway until the 16th Century when a further reform was ordered by Pope Gregory as the year is not exactly 365.25 days long. It was not adopted in the UK until the 18th Century when we lost 11 days to align ourselves with Europe.

My walk which I usually give at New Year called ‘Ring in the New Year’ deals with issue of calendars through the ages.

More on the Ides and the Kalendes of the month here

First published in November 2022.  Republished April 2025

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Yew Sunday Palm Sunday April 13th

Palm Sunday Giotto. Entry into Jerusalem from the Cappella degli Scrovegni in Padova (sent to me by Lucia Granatella)

Yew Sunday (Domhnach an Iúir in Irish) is the medieval name for Palm Sunday – this is the day that Jesus entered Jerusalem in triumph on a donkey, with palm leaves being laid in front of him. It has always been very curious to me this so-short-lived triumph preceding such heavy and heart breaking tragedy. It is the Sunday before the Betrayal, which leads to the Crucifixion on Good Friday and the Resurrection on Sunday. A busy week for the Church.

Palm Sunday can be celebrated by making crosses out of palms, or with processions bearing palm branches or eating special cakes (there is always room in any ritual for cakes). But in the North where do you get your Palms from? So, it was often substituted by Box, or Olive or Willow and particularly, in Britain and Ireland, by Yew. Yew is evergreen and is so long lived as to be a symbol of everlasting life (I wrote more about the Yew here).

Giotto Bondone was a Florentine painter of the 14th Century of whom Giorgio Vasari, in his essential guide to the artists of the Renaissance, ‘The Lives of the Artists‘ said of the 10 year old:

One day Cimabue, going on business from Florence to Vespignano, found Giotto, while his sheep were feeding, drawing a sheep from nature upon a smooth and solid rock with a pointed stone, having never learnt from any one but nature. Cimabue, marvelling at him, stopped and asked him if he would go and be with him. And the boy answered that if his father were content he would gladly go. Then Cimabue asked Bondone for him, and he gave him up to him, and was content that he should take him to Florence.

There in a little time, by the aid of nature and the teaching of Cimabue, the boy not only equalled his master, but freed himself from the rude manner of the Greeks, and brought back to life the true art of painting, introducing the drawing from nature of living persons, which had not been practised for two hundred years; or at least if some had tried it, they had not succeeded very happily.

Written in 1550.

If you look at the painting, you will see, even more than his contemporary Duccio, the faces of the people are rounded and, and at least somewhat, individual. The crowd scene, particularly, to the right, has some depth and the people further away seem to recede from the viewer, rather than, as they often do in Byzantine style paintings, either float or seem to stand on or support themselves on each other’s shoulders. The Gate into Jerusalem has been rendered by someone who has seen something that he believes has the key to realistic scenes. One day it will be rediscovered, and named single-point perspective. Yes, Giotto doesn’t know the secret but he is working to find out what the trick is. The people in the trees are also in the distance. These are the giant strides that Vasari is referring to in the quotation above. Realistic people, in spaces with depth. The donkey is quite sweet too! Cimabue was particularly good at painting Crucifix scenes.

The Cappella degli Scrovegni in Padova is a World Heritage Site and Giotto and his team covered all the walls and ceiling with frescos, depicting the Life of Jesus, the Life of Mary, and the Last Judgement.

Giotto, The Last Judgement. Cappella degli Scrovegni, In Padova. Wikipedia

Here is a real Digital Heritage treat – a 360 Degree tour of the Chapel! Follow the link below. If it seems to be taking a long time to load there is an information button which, once pressed will allow the panorama to load immediately.

https://www.haltadefinizione.com/en/image-bank/giotto-di-bondone-scrovegni-chapel-360-view/

First Published in 2024, revised in 2025

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The Moon on the Aventine Hill, Rome March 31st

Aventine Hill, Rome Google Earth

The Moon rules the months: this month’s span ends
With the worship of the Moon on the Aventine Hill.

Fasti by Ovid

Cycle of the Moon, sketched from photo.

The Aventine Hill is one of the seven hills of Rome, named after a mythical King Aventinus. It is the hill upon which Hercules pastured his cattle, which were stolen by Cacus. According to Virgil in his Aeneid, the monstrous Cacus lived in a cave on a rocky slope near the River Tiber. Cacus was the son of Vulcan, the artificer God. He was, also, a fire breathing Giant who eat human flesh and stuck their skulls on the door of his house.  When Hercules wrestled with him, he hugged him so tight Cacus’ eyes popped out of his head.

The worship of Minerva also took place on the Hill. You can take a Google Earth fly past if you follow this link – also some nice photos, and a link to Wikipedia.

The Aventine Hill & Romulus

The Hill is famous in the mythology of Rome because it is associated with Romulus. He and his twin Brother Remus, were born to the vestal virgin, Rhea Silvia, in the pre-Roman City of Alba Longa, not far away. Rhea was the daughter of former King Numitor. Her uncle, killed Rhea’s brother and forced her to be a vestal Virgin.  This ensuring Numitor’s line died out.

But, in her sacred grove she was put to sleep by Somnus dripping a sleeping draft into her eyes and then raped by the God Mars.  This was a terrible breaking of the taboo for Vestal Virgins. Rhea gave birth to the twin boys. They had to be hidden from the wrath of their Granduncle.

The Palatine & the Lupercal

The boys were saved by the River God Tiberinus and then by being suckled by a Wolf in a cave called the Lupercal, which is at the foot of the Palatine Hill in Rome. A ‘grotto’ under Augustus’ Palace on the Palatine, has been claimed as the original Lupercal, but it is disputed. (see www.digitalaugustanrome.org/records/lupercal/.

When they grew up, they helped their Grandfather (Numitor) reclaim the throne of Alba Longa.  The boys, being the children of the War God, were obviously excellent at the art of war. Then they decided to found their own City, but they could not decide upon which hill to build it or whom to name it after (accounts vary!). Remus favoured the Aventine, Romulus the Palatine (some accounts say vice versa).

So they decided to let the Gods decide. Remus claimed to have won when he saw a flight of 6 auspicious birds.  Romulus saw 12 and declared himself the winner. And the City was named Rome in his honour. It was on his choice of Hill – the Palatine Hill.  The Aventine hill was, originally, outside the City boundary.

The two fell out and Remus was killed. This story was first written down in the Third Century BC, and it was claimed that Rome was founded in 753BC. These stories continue to be told and celebrated.  In Britain, we largely ignore our creation myths.  Despite our legendary Founder, King Brutus, being a relative of Romulus and Remus.

For more on Mars and Vesta see my post:

More on King Brutus see my post;

Selene, the Moon Goddess see my post:

Day of the Moon Goddess Selene February 7th

First written in 2023 and revised March 30th 2024, 2025

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March 25th Feast of the Annunciation

Duccio's painting of the Archangel Gabriel bringing the news to Mary that she is to be the Mother of the Son of God.
Duccio’s The Annunciation. Egg Tempera on Wood c 1307-11

Today, is the anniversary of the conception of Jesus Christ. 9 Months before Christmas. I told some of this story yesterday which was St Gabriel’s Day, there is a little bit of repetition but hopefully the extra detail makes it worthwhile!

The picture above is by Duccio, from Sienna in Italy. It shows the Archangel Gabriel bringing Mary the news that she is to give birth to the Son of God. It is in the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery. I chose it to represent March 25th as it has a special meaning to me. When I started taking groups to the National Gallery this was the second painting on my tour with its narrative thread on the development of perspective. I had been reading a book on the subject by David Hockney.

The painting shows that Duccio does not understand single-point perspective. But then, no one could do perspective at that time in Europe. This skill was lost following the Roman Period. But at the beginning of the 14th Century, painters like Duccio from Sienna, and Giotto from Florence, were groping towards more realistic representation.

You might say they wanted a more human depiction, in which events are shown in spaces that are trying to look real. Filled with more realistic looking people and beginning to show on their faces real emotions. Previously, the Byzantine style produced iconic, storytelling images, that were somewhat cartoon-like rather than realistic. Here, is a detail from one such.  There is little attempt to make the encounter seem real, in a real space between real people. But it does tell the story effectively.

The Annunciation, St Catherine's Monastery, 12th Century. showing the archangel gabriel telling Mary about the conception of jesus
The Annunciation, St Catherine’s Monastery, 12th Century.

Now, look at the Duccio, he uses the arcading at the top of the painting to give an impression of this being an encounter in a real space. The Archangel Gabriel is moving through that space decisively. This is not just a picture with a story, it shows Duccio’s interest in capturing a fleeting but incredibly emotional moment. It happens to be the most important moment in the history of the world (from a Christian view point), the moment that the son of God is conceived as a human.

Gabriel is striding purposefully towards Mary, who has come out of her house to see him. He is just telling her ‘Hey, you are going to give birth to the Son of God.’

She looks overwhelmed, holding her arm protectively towards her. ‘What me?’ she might be saying. But she is also pointing at the Bible where this moment in time is predicted by Isaiah. Their faces are quite realistic, Mary is clearly emotional.

Also, if you look at Gabriel’s feet he is quite well grounded unlike many other medieval paintings, where people often seem to be floating above the ground. Mary, too is firmly, anchored, although you cannot see her feet.

It is by no means ‘perfect’ because they don’t yet know the rules of perspective.  Neither have they discovered they could use lenses to create ‘photorealistic’ portraits. But they are searching for methods that can bring spaces and people towards realistic life. It mirrors a humanistic trend to see Mary not as a sort of Goddess, but as a real mother.

Above the arcading can be seen a small sphere of blue sky from which emanates several ‘rays’ and a tiny Holy Dove. As I told the story, the rays are showing the moment of conception coming from Heaven to her womb which is hinted at by the red of her dress. The National Gallery commentary, which you can read here, suggests ‘The conception takes place at the moment she hears the words, which is why a tiny white dove, representing the Holy Ghost, flies towards her ear‘.

This made me stop and think – the tiny dove is heading to her ear is it? Really? Why? Gabriel is the messenger saying the words, the words head to the ear. The Holy Dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, part of the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Its role, in the painting, is to show that God is the Father. So why, would the Holy Spirit enter by the ear?

I have been using a ruler to try to see if the National Gallery are right! It’s difficult to be sure with a reproduction. but my ruler says the rays from Heaven are neither heading to the ear nor directly to the womb but in the general direction of her body. If they are right that the rays from heaven are heading for her ear, then is this rather the moment she is being told she will conceive rather than the moment of conception?

But the National Gallery text accepts that it is the moment of conception that is shown. So, I’ve looked at Luke 1:26-38:

‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.‘

On first reading he is telling her she will conceive, but reading it more carefully he is saying ‘now, you will conceive’. So Duccio is paying very careful attention to the Gospel. By the time Gabriel finishes his sentence she will have been impregnated by the Holy Dove. Looking at other paintings of the Annunciation the rays from heaven/Holy Ghost head generally towards the virgin, sometimes to her head, nothing suggesting the ear.

I’ve included a 19th Century Rossetti painting because it is so beautiful. It shows a lilly representing purity, instead of the rays, pointing to Mary’s womb.

By the way look at the feet in Rossetti’s painting. This is an early Rossetti painting, who was a poet and I don’t think he yet had the skills to ground feet. But he takes advantage of it in this case and disguises his ineptitude by giving Gabriel fiery feet. Subsequently, Rossetti concentrated on paintings of women from the waist up. Since, first writing this, I have visited an exhibition of Rosetti’s drawings, and they show a very capable draughtsman.

For more on March 25th. My post shows that, in fact, from a Christian perspective, March 25th is the most important day in history.

Veronese ‘The Annunciation’
The Annunciation by Rossetti originally known as Ecce Ancilla Domini! 1849 - 1850
The Annunciation by Rossetti originally known as Ecce Ancilla Domini! 1849 – 1850

First published 2024, revised 2025

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The Beginning of the Universe as We Know It; Birthdays of Adam, Lilith, & Eve; Conception of Jesus, Start of the Year March 25th

Lilith is shown coming her hair and looking in a mirror Study for Lady Lilith, by Rossetti. 1866, in red chalk. Now in the Tel Aviv Museum of Art (Wikipedia
Study for Lady Lilith, by Rossetti. 1866, in red chalk. Now in the Tel Aviv Museum of Art (Wikipedia)

This is now my most popular post. March 25th is the Annunciation—the day that the Archangel Gabriel tells Mary she is pregnant. (to see some very fine paintings of this meeting, look at my other March 25th post march-25th-feast-of-the-annunciation/

March 25th is also the anniversary of the birth of Adam and Eve (and Lilith); the death of Jesus Christ; the anniversary of the Immolation of Isaac; the Parting of the Red Sea; the Fall of Lucifer; and, (until 1752 in the UK) the beginning of the Year.

Of course, it isn’t. Or to put it another way, no one can, or ever could, prove any of these dates except the last one. So what they speak to is the way the Church saw the world as logically structured by God. Christian thinking about the year, the world, the universe, creation, developed over many years and took influences from many cultures. It is also very complicated to work out the sequence, so I’m going to summarise what I know (or at least what I think I know).

Christians chose Christmas Day as the Birthdate of Jesus probably because it was a prominent birthday already shared with several Gods.  Particularly, Mithras and Saturn. It was approximately at Solstice, the beginning of the Solar Year, and close to one of the main festivals of the Roman World, the Saturnalia. So it made it easier for new converts who could retain elements of their festivals after conversion.

December 25th might have been chosen by the pagan religions because it is the time when the Sun begins to rise further north each day.  The days stop shortening and start lengthening, light increases with the promise of warmer weather and budding plants.

So, Jesus was born on/or around the Solstice, so he must have been conceived approx. 9 months earlier.  This is approximately at the Spring Equinox.

Ah, you are thinking!  But today isn’t the equinox.  Surely God doesn’t do approximately?

I have always thought that the 4 or 5 days difference between the Solstice, the Equinox and the Christian festivals was down to the fact that the Calendars were not well coordinated with the actual movements of the Sun (because the Sun does not circle the earth in 365 days, or in 365 and a quarter days, but 365 days, 6 hours, 9 minutes which makes lunar Calendars hard to align with the Sun).

But when I first wrote this a sudden revelation dawned upon me which will be revealed in the next few paragraphs.

So, God sends his Son to save the human race. God is a logical being, so she would send her Son at an appropriate time. If the Child is born at or near the Solstice, which is an appropriate time for the Son of the Creator, then conception 9 months earlier, March 25th, is near the Equinox.  This is the beginning of Spring. For many people, Spring is a new beginning, for example, the Anglo-Saxons saw Winter as the death of the year, and Spring as the young Year. It all makes sense.

So to the Creation. God, having a free choice, would have created the world at the beginning of Spring. In fact, if you think about it, God creates everything necessary for life at the creation in 6 days. So as soon as it has all been created and put together it is bound to immediately spring into new life. The first season must, therefore, be Spring? Right? So March 25th.

This gives a nice symmetry with Jesus’s Life. Conceived on March 25th, born December 25th, and died 30-40 years later, according to the Church, on March 25th. (the only other famous person I know born and died on the same day is William Shakespeare).

Easter, when Jesus is martyred, isn’t March 25th I hear you saying. But remember, Easter is a lunar festival, so its date varies each year. Births and deaths, on the other hand, are fixed to the Solar Calendar. Therefore the Church chooses March 25th as the most appropriate day to pin the death of Jesus, on the anniversary of his conception and the anniversary of the creation of the Earth. I am guessing that this is also the preferred date for the Day of Judgement.

It is also the Birthday of Adam, and his first wife Lilith (or so some say), and Eve. More about Lilith below. I had thought this date was just one of the parallels that the Church liked, Jesus and Adam born on the same day. But, I have just worked out why Adam is born on March 25th, and why these dates are not the Equinox, March 20th but March 25th, which has been bugging me.

Let’s go back to the Beginning of Creation.

The Creation, as described in Genesis, has the following sequence of Seven Days, beginning with the Equinox March 20th. I have added dates to the 6/7 day sequence of Creation:

  • Day 1: Light – March 20th
  • Day 2: Atmosphere / Firmament – March 21st
  • Day 3: Dry ground & plants – March 22nd
  • Day 4: Sun, moon & stars – March 23rd
  • Day 5: Birds & sea creatures – March 24th
  • Day 6: Land animals & Adam, Lilith and Eve – March 25th
  • Day 7: The Sabbath of rest – March 26th
  • For more information www.bibleinfo.com

So there you have it! Adam, Lilith, and Eve were created on Day 6 with the Land Animals – March 25th. Jesus conceived, also on this date, and so 9 months later is born on December 25th. It all makes sense, and aligns the Christian year fully with the Solar Year.

And that, dear Reader, is the very first time anyone has been able to explain to me why Christmas is not at the Solstice, and why the Annunciation was not at the Equinox. Maybe you all know this, but it is very exciting to work this out for myself. And believe me, I have done a lot of reading about calendars and not spotted an explanation.

When was the Creation?

According to the Anno Munda‘s arrangement of the Year, the world was created 5500 years plus 2023 years ago so 7523 Before the Present. And it was supposed to have ended in 600AD, 6000 years after the Creation. So, they got that wrong.

Dionysius Exiguus replaced the Anno Mundo year with the AD/BC system in the 6th Century AD).

Beginnings of the year

I was thinking about the beginning of the year. The Celts chose October 31st, Julius Caesar chose January 1st, other cultures have other dates, and the Spring Equinox is another choice sometimes made. The Church and Dionysius Exiguus choose March 25th, although secular society also recognised the claims of January 1st. Britain kept to March 25th until 1752 when we adopted the Gregorian Calendar. But people like Samuel Pepys celebrated New Year’s Eve on 31st December. So January 1st was the New Year, but the year number did not change until March 25th. So King Charles I thought his head was being cut off on January 30th 1648; while history books will tell you it was cut off on January 30th 1649. Same day, different reckonings.

December 31st/January 1st is essentially a Solstice New Year Festival. And I have, previously, used the difficulty of keeping calendars as to why these days has slipped out of alignment with the Solstice. But, today I realised that it is as likely that the reason is the Solar/Lunar nature of our time keeping. The year, and its festivals, is largely arranged around the Solar Cycle. But our weekly and monthly cycles are derived from the Moon.

January 1st is the Kalends of January as the Romans would have called it. This day the First New Moon after the Winter Solstice. So, January 1st is a slightly misdated Solstice Festival it is a Festival celebrating the first New Moon of the New Year!

Over time societies give up trying to sync the lunar and solar calendars. Roman and Christian cultures gave up and fixed the moon months, completely abandoning any attempt to keep the months to the actual lunar cycle. This is our current system, in which only Easter remains a true to the moon festival, much to our perennial confusion.

Maybe you all know this, but I’ve learnt a lot in writing these two posts.

Lilith

The April 2023 Issue of ‘History Today’ has a short piece called ‘The Liberation of Lilith’ which suggests that the story of Lilith, a figure from Jewish Folklore, is first attested in a Medieval satirical text called ‘The Alphabet of Ben Sira’. The story goes that Lilith is created using the same clay as Adam. Adam then demands she lies below him during sex. She refuses, saying that they are both made from the same stuff and, therefore, equal. Adam refuses to accept this, and so Lilith leaves the Garden of Eden. So the story goes.

The story of Lilith, Sarah Clegg suggests, is one of a series of similar stories found around Europe and Asia. And Clegg assumes that it is gradually modified to make Lilith a demon who will kill babies unless the names of three angels are spoken out loud.

The story survives as a charm to keep babies safe, and perhaps to remind people of equality among the sexes. But this causes problems for, OK, let’s call them out, the Patriarchy. Lilith cannot be equal to Adam so she becomes a monster, not made from the same clay as Adam but from the scum and waste left over from Adam’s creation. I imagine the story then went on to propose that God creates Eve from Adam’s rib, and so she is created from Adam, and is, therefore not equal, but subservient to him. Lilith is now a significant figure in feminist folklore circles.

I wrote about more about eras and ages in my post which you can see her: Greater Cycles and the Six or Seven Ages

Attached to the watercolour of Lilith by Rossetti (at the top of the page), was a label with a verse from Goethe‘s Faust as translated by Shelley. (Wikipedia)

“Beware of her fair hair, for she excells
All women in the magic of her locks,
And when she twines them round a young man’s neck
she will not ever set him free again.”

The model is Fanny Cornforth, Rossetti’s mistress. He painted another version a few years later, but the model in that is Alexa Wilding. His models are arguably more interesting than the man himself and include: Elizabeth Siddall, Jane Morris and Fanny Cornforth. Christina Rossetti, his poet sister, modelled for Rossetti’s painting, Ecce Ancilla Domini which you can see here.

For more on the Annunciation, look at my other March 25th post here.

I think I might have enough material to begin my own Cult.

First Written 25th March 2024, revised 2025

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Beware the Ides of March March 15th

shows an image of Brutus stabbing Caesar with 'funny' bubbles: Caesar says 'Brutus, whats that loud pelting noise on the roof' and Brutus replies, about to stab Julius Caesar 'Hail, Caesar'
The Ides of March – With Apologies. From Facebook

SOOTHSAYER: Caesar!
CAESAR: Ha! Who calls?
CASCA: Bid every noise be still; peace yet again!
CAESAR: Who is it in the press that calls on me?
I hear a tongue shriller than all the music
Cry ‘ Caesar!’ Speak. Caesar is turned to hear.
SOOTHSAYER: Beware the ides of March.
CAESAR: What man is that?
BRUTUS: A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March.
CAESAR: Set him before me; let me see his face.
CASSIUS: Fellow, come from the throng; look upon Caesar.
CAESAR: What sayst thou to me now? Speak once again.
SOOTHSAYER: Beware the Ides of March.
CAESAR: He is a dreamer. Let us leave him. Pass.

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

Julius Caesar and the Ides of March

The Ides of March is the 15th of March. Julius Caesar didn’t take the warning that might have saved his life. You might suggest he got what was coming to first populist. But any study of Roman History will find many precursors in Roman and Greek History. Among populists, I rank Caesar with Napoleon as one of the Dictators who was, personally, an intelligent, reasonable man. They, in some ways, ruled ‘wisely’ but were nonetheless willing to sacrifice millions of people for their own personal ambition.

Today, the world is faced with the populists who are geniuses only in their own minds. I know, we as humans, might think, if only X would drop dead, how much better it would be? Brutus, being an honourable man, took action upon his thought. But, as often is the case, what seemed the ‘right thing’ to do, turned out to be a disaster. The plotters were trying to save the Roman Republic, but their murder destroyed the Republic. So, still those assassinary thoughts, read this article in ‘History Today’ about the impact of Julius Caesar’s murder. Do everything you can but use democratic means to defeat egotists to whom truth means nothing. In my opinion this is the major problem for humanity, it seems we do not know how to stop homicidal maniacs causing war without needing to fight a war to stop them. We do not have a method of peaceful mass rebellion. Perhaps Gandhi came closest but then he was working against a system that was not a dictatorship.

Ides of March

Now, what the heck are or indeed is the Ides of March?

A Roman month was divided into three, first the Kalends, then the Nones and finally the Ides. These three days were the important days of the month. The Kalends is the 1st of the Month. The Nones the 7th of the Month, And the Ides the Fifteenth. It is said to go back to the early days of Rome and a lunar calendar. The Kalends being the first tiny sliver of a crescent moon a couple of days after the New Moon. The Nones the first quarter of the Moon and the Ides was the full moon. To me, as a way of dividing a month it is very lopsided. The cycle of the moon is 29 days not 15. So the tripartite division divides up the first half of the month, and leave the second half undivided.

Debts were supposed to be paid on the Kalends and that is where we get our word calendar from. These public calendars were called Fasti. This is the name of Ovid’s great Almanac Poem, the Fasti, which I often quote from.

This is a very bad photograph of a drawing by Herbert E Duncan Jr of a 1st Century Calendar
This is a very bad photograph of a drawing by Herbert E Duncan Jr of a 1st Century Calendar

How was it used? When talking about a day in the future month you might say I’ll meet you on the 5th day before the Kalends. I’ve never really understood this system, despite a few attempts, until I saw this drawing of a Roman Calendar. You’ll have to read this closely. The first column, on the left, with the letters from D to H then A – H. This is a recurring cycle of 8 market days, running in tandem with Kalends, Nones etc.. This gives an 8 day week.

Now reading across the top line DKMARTNP. So the D is the 4 day of the 8 day ‘market week’. The second column begins with the Letter K for Kalends, then MART for March. So it’s the Kalends of March. Then NP which means this day is a day for public festivals.

Back to the second column. Below the K for Kalends, the days are counted down to the upcoming Nones. So the next one after Kalends is VI, meaning the 6th day before the March Nones. Then V, IIII, III. There is no II because PR means the day before Nones. Below and to the right of the PR are the letters NON which is, as you might hope, is short for Nones.

In the second column below this is the number VIII which means the next day is the 8th day before the Ides of March. The fragment of stone from which this drawing comes does not continue down to the Ides, unfortunately.

Complicated, huh? It gets worse. The third column has a series of letters in it: F C C C NP NON F C C. We already know that the NON is short for Nones, The F means it’s a fastus, a permissible day when legal action can be taken. (the plural of Fastus is Fasti.) The C means C comitialis which on fasti days the Roman people could hold assemblies. (see my post for more on the curiae). We have already seen that NP marks days for public festivals. An N would mean days when political and judicial actions were prohibited, although there is not one here. The small unreadable text to the right is information, I believe, about holidays and historic events to be marked in the calendar. This is, in fact, a Roman Stone Almanac.

This confusing system survived Caesar’s major calendrical reforms. He transformed the Roman calendar, which was rotten at the core. He re-aligned with an almost accurate calculation of the time the Sun takes to circle the earth. (or the other way around!) This is known as the Julian Calendar.

But the Kalends, Nones, and Ides he left intact until Constantine the Great got rid of them. They were replaced with the familiar 4 fold division of the month. So, for the first time, you could work 24/7.

For more about Constantine’s Weeks look at my post here

For Caesar’s Calendrical reforms look at this post

2024 Revised March 2025

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St Gregory.  Punster Extraordinary March 12th

St Gregory and the Angles

St Gregory the Great

Gregorius I is known as Saint Gregory the Great. Pope from 3 September 590 to his death on 12th March 604. So 12th March is traditionally his feast day. It was changed to September 3rd, the date of his elevation to Pope because 12th March was often in Lent.

His is the 2nd most popular name for Popes. This is the top 18. I guess St Peter was too hard an act to follow, but then there are 6 Pauls?

  • John (23),
  • Gregory (16),
  • Benedict (16),
  • Clement (14),
  • Leo (13),
  • Innocent (12),
  • Pius (12),
  • Stephen (9),
  • Urban (8),
  • Alexander (7),
  • Adrian (6),
  • Paul (6),
  • Sixtus (5),
  • Martin (5),
  • Nicholas (5),
  • Celestine (5),
  • Anastasius (4),
  • Honorius (4).
  • Source: https://conclaveblog.wordpress.com

St Gregory is the patron saint of musicians, singers, students, and teachers. It is traditionally believed he instituted the form of plainsong known as Gregorian Chant. He was a formidable organiser and reformer. He made changes that helped the Catholic tradition survive Arian and Donatist challenges. To read more about the Arian Heresy look at my post on St. Hilary and the Arians.

In the UK St Gregory is venerated with St Augustine for bringing Christianity to the largely pagan Anglo-Saxons. The caption to the illustration above tells the story of how he came to send a mission to the pagan Angles in Briton. It includes his two most famous puns, riffing on the similarity of the words Angles/Angels and Aella/Alleluia. But in between these two he also punned on the name of Aella’s kingdom. This was called Deira which later joined with Bernicia to become the Kingdom of Northumbria. St Gregory said he would save them from the wroth of God which is ‘de ira’ in Latin. The ire of God.

St Augustine’s Mission

In 597AD St Gregory sent St Augustine to Canterbury. His mission to convert the Germanic peoples of the former Roman Province of Britannia. Canterbury was chosen because its King was the ‘Bretwalda’ of Britain. This enigmatic title was given to Britain’s most powerful King. At the time, it was Ethelbert of Kent. He, was married to Bertha, a French Princess already a Christian. So, it was a relatively safe haven for St Augustine’s mission. The King was baptised, shortly, after in Canterbury.

Stained glass window showing Baptism of King Ethelbert of Kent by St Augustine watched by Queen Bertha. In St Martins Church, Canterbury
Stained glass window showing the Baptism of King Ethelbert of Kent by St Augustine watched by Queen Bertha. In St Martins Church, Canterbury

Archbishop of London?

The mission came with a plan to recreate the ecclesiastical arrangements set up in the Roman period. From the early 4th Century there were archbishops in the two main capitals at London and York. After Kent was converted, St Augustine sent St Mellitus to London. London was part of the Kingdom of Essex, ruled by St Ethelbert’s nephew, Sæberht. Mellitus established St Pauls Cathedral in AD604 in London. St Paulinus was sent to convert Northumbria and established a Cathedral in York.

Unfortunately, for the plan, Sæberht died. His sons returned to paganism and Mellitus was kicked out. He returned to Canterbury, where he, eventually became Archbishop. Ever since we have had an Archbishop of Canterbury and York and never had an Archbishop of London.

Photo of St Martin's Church - where the Church of England began. showing Roman tiles in the wall.
St Martin’s Church, Canterbury – where the Church of England began. Note the Roman tiles in the wall.

St Gregory and England

It is possible to argue (and I do) that St Gregory’s encounter with the Angles is why we are called English. He sent St Augustine to set up the Church of the Angles, not the Church of the Saxons. Saxon was the normal name used by the Romans for Germanic barbarians. The old Roman province of Brittania was by now divided into 3 Saxon Kingdoms. Essex, Wessex, and Sussex. (East, West, and South Saxons). 3 Anglian Kingdom, Mercia, East Anglia and Northumbria. (Middle, East and North Angles). And Kent, which the Venerable Bede says was a Jutish King of Germans from Jutland. These Kingdoms were often at war. After the attacks of the Vikings were beaten back and the conquered Kingdoms were ‘liberated’. The united Kingdom became known as Angeland or England. The Church of England had made the term Anglish/English became a unifying term to unite Angles, Saxons and Jutes. Otherwise, the ‘liberated’ Angles and Jutes would have to swallow being part of Greater Wessex, rubbing in their loss of independence.

St Gregory in Amsterdam

On a visit to Amsterdam and the Rijksmuseum I came across this painting which features Pope Gregory the Great. He is in the left hand part of the Triptych, shown in green kneeling down. It shows Utrecht in the background.

Triptych of the Crucifixion.  Showing the vision of the Crucifixion that St Gregory had while celebrating Mass (left). Crucifixion centre.  St Christopher (right)

What is fascinating is all the paraphernalia of the Crucifixion above Gregory’s head.  You’ll see 30 pieces of silver, dice to decide who gets Jesus’  robes, flails and torture devices, sponge and spear etc. Close up below.

Detail Triptych of the Crucifixion. 

For King Ethelbert’s Feast Day see my post: st-wapburga-and-st-ethelbert-of-kents-day

Lazy Day in Anglo-Saxon Times

In the Laws of King Alfred the Great, this day was a day off for freemen.  I will be writing about Days off in the Anglo Saxon Calender on August 15th.

First published in 2024, republished in 2025

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Sementivae Dies—the Days of Sowing January 24–26

“Victoria and Albert Museum” by Nick Garrod, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. First V&A Director, Sir Henry Cole, to the left of the picture. Greek Deities in the roundells

Sementivae, was a festival dedicated to seed and to Ceres. Ceres is an Earth Goddess who gives her name to our word cereal. The festival was also called. Paganalia. The Mediterranean world had many names for the Earth Goddess. Tellus, Demeter, Cybele, Gaia, Rhea etc..

Ceres can be seen on the top left roundel resting on the Globe on the marvellous Ceramic Staircase at the V&A (photo above). And in my slightly out of focus photograph below. (To be honest, in real life, it looks a little more like my photo than the gorgeous photo above!)

Ceres represented Agriculture, Mercury Commerce, and Vulcan Industry. Old Photo by the Author. T
Ceres represented Agriculture, Mercury Commerce, and Vulcan Industry. Old Photo by the Author.

Sementivae Dies – a moveable feast.

To create life, we need earth and water to nurture and seeds for fertility. And so into the cold dead world of January the Romans created a festival of sowing. It had two parts, one presided over by Mother Earth (Tellus) and the other by Ceres, the Goddess of Corn. The actual day of the festival was chosen not by rote on a set day of the calendar but by the priests, in accordance with the weather. This seems very sensible, as there is no point sowing seeds in terrible weather conditions. I’m assuming the Priests took professional advice!

On the 24th-26th January Tellus prepared the soil, and in early February seeds were sown under the aegis of Ceres. Tellus Mater (also Terra Mater) was known as Gaia to the Greeks.

Gaia

Gaia was selected by James Lovelock & Lynn Margulis in the 1970s as the face of their Gaia hypothesis. To me, the importance of the idea is not the scientific principle that environments co-evolve with the organisms within them. But, rather in Gaia as a personification of our world as a complex living ecosystem. One that we have to care for. Gaia exists as a series of feedback loops. Lovelock hypotheses that she will spit us out unless we can live in balance with our alma mater.

Ovid and Sementivae

This is what the Roman Poet Ovid has to say in his poetic Almanac known as ‘Fasti’ (www.poetryintranslation.com)

Book I: January 24

I have searched the calendar three or four times,
But nowhere found the Day of Sowing:
Seeing this, the Muse said: That day is set by the priests,
Why are you looking for moveable days in the calendar?
Though the day of the feast ís uncertain, its time is known,
When the seed has been sown and the land ís productive.
You bullocks, crowned with garlands, stand at the full
trough,
Your labour will return with the warmth of spring.
Let the farmer hang the toil-worn plough on its post:
The wintry earth dreaded its every wound.

Steward, let the soil rest when the sowing is done,
And let the men who worked the soil rest too.
Let the village keep festival: farmers, purify the village,
And offer the yearly cakes on the village hearths.
Propitiate Earth and Ceres, the mothers of the crops,
With their own corn, and a pregnant sow ís entrails.
Ceres and Earth fulfil a common function:
One supplies the chance to bear, the other the soil.
Partners in toil, you who improved on ancient days
Replacing acorns with more useful foods,
Satisfy the eager farmers with full harvest,
So they reap a worthy prize from their efforts.
Grant the tender seeds perpetual fruitfulness,
Don’t let new shoots be scorched by cold snows.
When we sow, let the sky be clear with calm breezes,
Sprinkle the buried seed with heavenly rain.
Forbid the birds, that prey on cultivated land,
To ruin the cornfields in destructive crowds.
You too, spare the sown seed, you ants,
So you’ll win a greater prize from the harvest.

For more on Ovid look at my post on Ovid and Juno here. Or you can search for Ovid in the Search box.

First Published in January 2023, republished in January 2024, 2025


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St Distaff’s Day & the Triple Goddesses, January 7th

Spinning
Spinning—showing the distaff in the left hand and the spindle or rock in the right hand

I’m not sure what the Three Kings were doing on the day after Epiphany. But, the shepherds, if they were like medieval English farmworkers, would still be on holiday. They went back to work, traditionally, next Monday, which is Plough Monday. By contrast, the women, according to folk customs, went back to work St. Distaff’s Day, the day after Epiphany. In an ideal world, St Distaff’s Day is the Sunday after Epiphany (January 6th), and Plough Monday is the next day. Of course, it doesn’t always work out that way. I am not sure the woman going back to work on the 7th January, would be happy with the men lounging about until Plough Monday,. This year on the 13th January.

A distaff is ‘a stick or spindle on to which wool or flax is wound for spinning’. Because of its importance in the medieval and early modern economy, it became a synecdoche for women. St Distaff is a ‘canonisation’ of this use of the word. So, a day to celebrate working women.

We know that medieval and early modern women were a vital part of the work force, despite the demands of childcare. Many women took on apprenticeships, even more continued their husband’s work after he died. Some professions like silk became a female speciality. Plus, London was full of female servants and nurses. Many women had several jobs. The exhibition at the British Library on Medieval Women. In Their Own Words, indicated that most of the sex workers had two or more other jobs. In the house, the wife was the mistress of a formidable range of technologies. Baking, Brewing, Cooking, Laundry, Gardening, Dairy, Medicine (including distillation), horticulture, spinning, sewing and embroidery. Even, aristocratic women did embroidery of the finest quality, and it often made an important financial contribution to the household.

St Distaff’s Day and Plough Monday

Robert Herrick (1591–1674), born in Cheapside, London, a Goldsmith, priest, Royalist and Poet wrote in ‘Hesperides’.

Partly work and partly play
You must on St. Distaff’s Day:
From the plough, soon free your team;
Then come home and fother them;
If the maids a-spinning go,
Burn the flax and fire the tow.
Bring in pails of water then,
Let the maids bewash the men.
Give St. Distaff all the right;
Then bid Christmas sport good night,
And next morrow every one
To his own vocation.

Here he links the plough team with St Distaff’s Day. This implies that the ploughs would be out on the next day. So as St Distaff’s Day is not always on a Sunday, perhaps Plough Monday is not always on a Monday? He certainly suggests everyone goes back to work on the day after St Distaff’s Day.

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Saints & Goddesses of the Distaff Side

In London, the Fraternity of St Anne and St Agnes met at the Church dedicated to the saints. It is by a corner of the Roman Wall on the junction of Gresham Street and Noble Street. St Agnes is the patron saint of young girls, abused women and Girl Scouts. St Anne is the mother of the mother of the Son of God. So, she represents the three generations of women: maidens, mothers, and grandmothers.

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The Three Mother Goddesses (and someone else) “Limestone relief depicting four female figures sitting on a bench holding bread and fruit, a suckling baby, a dog and a basket of fruit’ the Museum of London

This trinity of women were worshipped by the Celts. Archaeologists discovered the sculpture above while investigating the Roman Wall a few hundred yards away at Blackfriars. Scholars believe it depicts the Celtic Three Mother Goddesses. The fourth person is a mystery, maybe the patron of a nearby temple. The relief sculpture was removed perhaps from a temple, or the temple was trashed at some point. Then the sculpture was used as rubble and became part of the defences of London.

The idea of triple goddesses is a common one. In Folklore and History they have been referred to as Maiden, Mother, and Crone, or even Maiden, Mother and Hag. They come in Roman, Greek, Celtic, Irish, and Germanic forms. Their names include the Norns, the Three Fates, the Weird Sisters, the Mórrígan and many more. The Three Fates, the Goddess Book of Days says, were celebrated during the Gamelia. This is the Greco/Roman January Festival to the marriage of Zeus and Juno. The Festival also gives its name to the Athenian month of January.

The use of the terms Hag and Crone for the third Goddess is rare now, but was common. It does a great disservice to the importance of the Grandmother figure. (Although the original meaning of the words were less pejorative. For example, Hag may have meant diviner, soothsayer.) The three phases of womanhood are equally as important to the continuation of the species. They provide love, support, and experience through the generations. Compare these three generations of supportive deities with Ouranos (Uranus), Cronus (Saturn) and Zeus (Jupiter). Saturn castrated and deposed his father, Uranus. Later, he tried to eat his son, Jupiter. But then, Jupiter is nobody’s idea of an ideal father. As one example, he eats his lover, Metis, to avoid her giving birth. (See my post on the birth of Athena.)

Recent work on human evolution has suggested that the role of the Grandmother is crucial to our species’ ability to live beyond the age of fertility. Because, in evolutionary terms, once an individual cannot procreate, their usefulness for the survival of the genes is finished. So what’s the point of putting resources into grandma’s survival? The theory is the Grandmother has such an impact on the survival of the next generation, that longevity. for the female, beyond fertility makes evolutionary sense.

Have a look at this site for more information.

Natural History Museum, Oxford, K Flude photo.

There was a theory widely held that the original Deities, dating before the spread of farming, were mother goddesses. The idea is that the hunter-gather goddesses (perhaps like the Venus of Willendorf) were overthrown by the coming of farmers. These patriarchal societies worshipped the male gods, which destroyed the ancient Matriarchy. Jane Ellen Harrison proposed an ancient matriarchal civilization. Robert Graves wrote some interesting, but no longer thought to be very scientific studies, on the idea. Neopaganism has taken these ideas forward.

More information on St Agnes in this post below:

St Agnes Eve January 20th

One This Day

1845. Today is the anniversary of the breaking of the fabulous Portland Vase by a drunken visitor to the British Museum. It looks immaculate despite being smashed into myriad pieces, a wonder of the conservator’s art. To see the vase and read its story, go to the BM web site here:

wedgwood catalogue of its copy of the portland vase

In the orthodox church, дед Мороз  (Ded Moroz= father of frost), accompanied by Cнегурочка (Snieguroshka= fairy of the snow) brings gifts on New year’s eve, (which is on January 7th). He travels with a horse drawn troika.

Today’s Interesting link

Medieval Sin and the Pointy Shoe — for details, read the BBC’s interesting article.

First Published in 2022, and revised in January 2024 and 2025

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The Last Supper April 2nd

Copy of the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinca at the Collection Gallery, Royal Academy, UK
(Copy made 1515-1520, and was in the Carthusian Monsatery at Pavia in the 17th Century before being brought to the RA in the 19th Century)

April 2nd, 2026 is the day before Good Friday. It was on the Wednesday or the Thursday that the Last Supper took place. So I have relocated my ‘Sandals of the Saints’ post to here.

Whilst visiting Flaming June at the RA, it was nice to have another look at the Last Supper. What strikes me most is their sandals (and the beautifully pressed table cloth).

Detail of the RA copy of the Last Supper

Details that bring the past to life. The shoes would surely sell today, while the table cloth really destroys the common idea that the past was dirty and smelly. It wasn’t. People took pride in their appearance and surroundings. Just look at the ironing!

Here, by way of contrast, is a medieval shoe from the 14th Century from the Museum of London. And this is a link to the Museum of London’s collections of medieval shoes, most have been collected from excavations, and it is one of the best collections.

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