Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
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Why we celebrate New Year's today...?
Why does our year actually start on January 1st...?
There are - who else? – of course the ancient Romans to blame!
At the time of the Roman Republic, the year actually always began on March 1st. That was the day the two newly elected consuls took office.
This day was accompanied by a solemn ceremony at the Capitol, where the new Consuls made their vows for the upcoming term. To become a Consul you had to be at least 43 years old and – of course! – be a Roman citizen!
A representative of the Senate then spoke the traditional inauguration formula "Videant consules ne quid respublica detrimenti capiat!" ("Now let the Consuls see that the Republic is not harmed!") and the two Consuls were in office
By the year 367 BC Only patricians (members of the upper class/nobility) could be elected, according to which at least one of the consuls should also be a plebeian (member of the working class).
In the year 172 BC For the first time in Rome's history there were two plebeian consuls!
Consuls were immediately recognizable by their robes, the red-lined toga praetexta, which only they wore!
If they were also of "senatorial nobility", i.e. patricians, they also wore two vertical crimson stripes on the underlying tunic.
Their shoes, the "senator boots" (calcei senatorii) were red, the other senators wore black ones.
At the time of the Republic, the toga was still an extremely practical piece of clothing...:
In the imperial era, the thing got bigger and bigger and it was practically impossible to put it on without help...:
The last inauguration of the consuls on March 1st was in 152 BC. when the consuls P. Licinius Crassus Dives Mucianus and L. Valerius Flaccus officiated.
Since 153 BC Consuls took office on January 1, which has since been considered the beginning of the year, because the consuls were the eponymous (Greek: "name-giving") officials of Rome, after whom the years were named.
The reason for bringing the term of office forward had something to do with the expansion of the Roman Empire and the military:
Spring and summer were considered the best times to wage war. And since one of the consuls (even both in difficult times!) was with the army and commanded it, taking office as before on March 1 would have meant arriving too late at the (usually far away) troops.
If the consuls took office on January 1st, this danger did not exist!
We even know the names of the two consuls to whom we owe January 1st as New Year's Day!
Their names were Publius Popillius Laenas and Publius Rupilius.
In Roman historiography, therefore, one spoke of "the year in which P. Publius Popillius Laenas and P. Rupilius were consuls".
The "calculation" according to the - fictitious or legendary - founding date of Rome 753 BC. CE, which one begins with a. etc. abbreviated (ad urbe condita / after the founding of the city) played no role in this context.
So we owe it to Roman pragmatism that we have a holiday today!
Why does our year actually start on January 1st...?
There are - who else? – of course the ancient Romans to blame!
At the time of the Roman Republic, the year actually always began on March 1st. That was the day the two newly elected consuls took office.
This day was accompanied by a solemn ceremony at the Capitol, where the new Consuls made their vows for the upcoming term. To become a Consul you had to be at least 43 years old and – of course! – be a Roman citizen!
A representative of the Senate then spoke the traditional inauguration formula "Videant consules ne quid respublica detrimenti capiat!" ("Now let the Consuls see that the Republic is not harmed!") and the two Consuls were in office
By the year 367 BC Only patricians (members of the upper class/nobility) could be elected, according to which at least one of the consuls should also be a plebeian (member of the working class).
In the year 172 BC For the first time in Rome's history there were two plebeian consuls!
Consuls were immediately recognizable by their robes, the red-lined toga praetexta, which only they wore!
If they were also of "senatorial nobility", i.e. patricians, they also wore two vertical crimson stripes on the underlying tunic.
Their shoes, the "senator boots" (calcei senatorii) were red, the other senators wore black ones.
At the time of the Republic, the toga was still an extremely practical piece of clothing...:
In the imperial era, the thing got bigger and bigger and it was practically impossible to put it on without help...:
The last inauguration of the consuls on March 1st was in 152 BC. when the consuls P. Licinius Crassus Dives Mucianus and L. Valerius Flaccus officiated.
Since 153 BC Consuls took office on January 1, which has since been considered the beginning of the year, because the consuls were the eponymous (Greek: "name-giving") officials of Rome, after whom the years were named.
The reason for bringing the term of office forward had something to do with the expansion of the Roman Empire and the military:
Spring and summer were considered the best times to wage war. And since one of the consuls (even both in difficult times!) was with the army and commanded it, taking office as before on March 1 would have meant arriving too late at the (usually far away) troops.
If the consuls took office on January 1st, this danger did not exist!
We even know the names of the two consuls to whom we owe January 1st as New Year's Day!
Their names were Publius Popillius Laenas and Publius Rupilius.
In Roman historiography, therefore, one spoke of "the year in which P. Publius Popillius Laenas and P. Rupilius were consuls".
The "calculation" according to the - fictitious or legendary - founding date of Rome 753 BC. CE, which one begins with a. etc. abbreviated (ad urbe condita / after the founding of the city) played no role in this context.
So we owe it to Roman pragmatism that we have a holiday today!
