Ex collegio pontificumFrom the College of Pontiffs
Res DivinaeRites & Omens
Tempora cum causis Latium digesta per annum
lapsaque sub terras ortaque signa canam.
“The seasons, arranged through the Latin year with their causes, and the stars that set beneath the earth and rise again — these I shall sing.”
Ov. Fast. I.1–2
a.d. IV Id. Oct.
Monday, 12 October 2026 · MMDCCLXXIX a.u.c.SOL
Romae nuncAt Rome now: —
Hora diurna hodie LVI minutarum; vigilia nocturna CXCI.A daytime hour lasts 56 minutes today; a night watch 191.
Sol in Libra, tutela Vulcanus.The Sun is in Libra (the Scales), under the guard of Vulcanus. Manil. II.439–447
LVNA
PlenaFull: a.d. VII Kal. Nov. 26 Oct · NovaNew: a.d. V Id. Nov. 9 Nov
Olim Kalendae a luna nova vocabantur, Idus a plena; Kalendae Iunoni, Idus Iovi sacrae.Of old the Kalends were called at the new moon and the Ides fell at the full; the Kalends are sacred to Juno, the Ides to Jupiter. Varro LL VI.27–28; Macr. Sat. I.15
TEMPESTAS Romaeat Rome
Caelum fere serenumMostly clear
HodieToday 16°–23° · ImbresShowers
CrasTomorrow: Caelum fere serenumMostly clear · 14°–23°
DI HODIERNITHE GODS OF THE DAY
Hodie corona in focum imponitur et Lari familiari supplicatur.Today a garland goes on the hearth and the household Lar is prayed to.
Cato Agr. 143.2Augustālia
19 B.C. — the senate dedicates an altar to Fortūna Redux, Fortune-Who-Brings-Home, for Augustus' return from the East; the anniversary became the Augustālia. The month of homecomings: the armies, the emperor, the wine — all come in.
QVID HODIEWHAT TO DO TODAY
ex fastis et penufrom the calendar and the larderMustacei: farina musto subacta, anisum, cuminum, lauri folia.
Mustacei: flour worked with must, anise and cumin, baked on bay leaves.
Cato Agr. 121Tempore: mustum, castaneae, nuces, oleae maturescentesIn season: new must, chestnuts, walnuts, ripening olives
Novum vetus vinum.
New wine and old.
Varro LL VI.21Kalendis, Nonis, Idibus et diebus festis corona in focum imponitur et Lari familiari pro copia supplicatur.
On the Kalends, Nones and Ides, and on feast days, a garland is laid on the hearth and the household Lar is prayed to, as means allow.
Cato Agr. 143.2
FERIAE PROXIMAEFESTIVALS AHEAD
- a.d. III Id. Oct.Tue 13 Octpost I diesin 1 day · NPFontinālia
Fonti deo feriae: in fontes coronae iaciuntur et putei coronantur.Holiday of Fons, god of springs: garlands are thrown into springs and wells are crowned with wreaths.
- Id. Oct.Thu 15 Octpost III diesin 3 days · NPEquus October
The right-hand horse of the winning team falls to Mars; the tail is run hot to the Rēgia (Plutarch, extitQ.R. 97).
- a.d. XIV Kal. Nov.Mon 19 Octpost VII diesin 7 days · NPArmilustrium
Arma lustrantur; tempus bellandi finitur.Weapons are purified; the campaigning season ends.
- a.d. VII Kal. Nov.Mon 26 Octpost XIV diesin 14 days · CLūdī Victōriae
The Lūdī Victōriae Sullānae open — games for Victory, vowed by Sulla for himself after the Colline Gate (82 B.C.).
- prid. Non. Nov.Wed 4 Novpost XXIII diesin 23 days · CLūdī Plēbēiī
The Lūdī Plēbēiī open — the plebs' own games, second only to Jupiter's September festival in age, a fortnight of stage and Circus centered on the Ides.
Ō quid solūtīs est beātius cūrīs,Catullus 31.7-9
cum mēns onus repōnit, ac peregrīnō
labōre fessī vēnimus larem ad nostrum.
Is anything sweeter than cares laid down — when the mind sets its load off and, worn from travel, we come home to our own hearth?
Latīnē facilius: Quid dulcius quam post longum iter domum venīre et onus dēpōnere? Domus nostra nōs exspectat.
Lūx DiurnaAnnus Romanus, dies singuliThe Roman year, day by day