a.d. III Kal. Ian.
December 30 in Ancient Rome
Birth of Titus
birthAD 39
Julian date · ≈ Dec 28 on our calendar
Titus, later emperor (79–81), was born in Rome, the eldest son of Vespasian.
Vespasian
Background
Titus Flavius Vespasianus, eldest son of Vespasian and Flavia Domitilla, was born on 30 December 39 disputed: Suetonius ties his birth to the year of Caligula's murder, AD 41, while his stated age at death points to 39. Suetonius says he was born in a small, dark room of a humble house near the Septizonium, which could still be seen in his day per Suetonius.
When his father rose under Claudius, Titus was raised at court alongside Britannicus, Claudius' son, sharing his education. Suetonius reports that he was at the dinner where Britannicus was poisoned in 55 and tasted the drink, falling seriously ill himself per Suetonius; possibly embellished.
Titus served in Germany and Britain and commanded a legion under his father in Judaea. When Vespasian became emperor, Titus captured Jerusalem in 70 and destroyed the Temple, events commemorated on the Arch of Titus. He became emperor in 79; his short reign saw the eruption of Vesuvius that buried Pompeii and Herculaneum, a great fire in Rome and the opening of the Colosseum in 80. He died in 81, aged about 41, and was remembered as "the delight of the human race" per Suetonius.
⚠ Uncertain date: Year disputed: Suetonius links his birth to the year of Caligula's murder (AD 41); his age at death points to AD 39.
Ancient source: Suetonius, Titus 1 · Reference
Sources
☁ Rome today (1991–2020 avg): 11°/4°C (52°/39°F) · rain 31% of days
Rome in DecemberDecember's highlight was the Saturnalia (from 17 December).
Columella
Signals a storm. (De Re Rust. 11.2)
Fields & crops
Olive picking and pressing, wood-cutting, and indoor work on rainy days; sowing ideally finished by the Kalends per Columella 11.2.
Courts & law
Courts closed for the Saturnalia; quaestors gave gladiatorial shows in December in late antiquity per the Chronography of 354.
Senate & politics
New tribunes of the plebs entered office on 10 December; outgoing magistrates closed their accounts before the year ended Republic.
Military
Winter quarters. Soldiers too kept the Saturnalia, choosing a mock 'king' per the Acts of Dasius, a late and disputed martyr text.
Festivals & religion
Faunalia (5 Dec.), Agonalia and Septimontium (11 Dec.), Consualia (15 Dec.), Saturnalia (from 17 Dec.), Opalia (19 Dec.), Divalia (21 Dec.), Larentalia (23 Dec.), and later the birthday of Sol Invictus (25 Dec.).
Daily life
December's highlight was the Saturnalia (from 17 December). Business stopped, people wore the casual pilleus cap and gave small gifts, and households let enslaved people eat with, or even be served by, their owners per Macrobius 1.7, Seneca Ep. 47. Seneca, though, notes that the inversion lasted only days; the rest of the year enslaved people stood silent and hungry while masters dined, and could be beaten for a cough per Seneca, Ep. 47. Seneca himself grumbled that the whole city "sweats" with feasting Seneca, Ep. 18.
On farms, olives were picked and pressed, and enslaved workers repaired tools and baskets on rainy days per Columella 11.2.
Sources: Varro, De Lingua Latina 6 · Chronography of 354 · Seneca, Epistles 18 and 47 · Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.7–10
All days in December →
LATIN LINE OF THE DAY
Sunt bona, sunt quaedam mediocria, sunt mala plura quae legis hic.
“Some are good, some middling, more are bad, of what you read here.”
Martial, Epigrams 1.16 · translation ours (literal)
