a.d. X Kal. Feb.
January 23 in Ancient Rome
Homoian Christians granted the right to assemble
religionAD 386
Julian date · ≈ Jan 24 on our calendar
Issued at Milan in the name of the young Valentinian II, the law let those holding the creed of the Council of Ariminum meet freely and threatened death to anyone who disturbed them. It set the stage for the clash with Bishop Ambrose.
Valentinian II
Background
Fourth-century Christians fought bitterly over how to describe the relationship between God the Father and the Son. The Homoians, often loosely called "Arians" by their opponents, held that the Son was "like" the Father, following the creed of the Council of Ariminum (Rimini) in 359. The Nicenes insisted the Son was of the same substance. Since 380 the eastern court had backed the Nicenes.
In Milan, though, the court of the boy-emperor Valentinian II, where his mother Justina favoured the Homoians, issued this law in January 386. It gave freedom of assembly to those who followed the creed of Ariminum, and threatened those who caused disturbances against it with death as authors of sedition. The law was issued in the names of Valentinian, Theodosius and Arcadius.
It set off a confrontation with Bishop Ambrose of Milan, who refused to hand over a church to the Homoians. That Easter he and his congregation occupied the basilica for days; Augustine later recalled that Ambrose had the people sing hymns to keep up their spirits per Augustine's Confessions. The court backed down.
Ancient source: Theodosian Code 16.1.4 · Reference
Sources
☁ Rome today (1991–2020 avg): 12°/4°C (54°/39°F) · rain 30% of days
Rome in JanuaryThe Kalends of January opened the civil year, with new consuls, vows for the…
Fields & crops
Little field work: Columella says pious farmers rested before the Kalends and restarted every task on 1 January for luck; after the Ides, pruning and weeding of autumn-sown grain resumed per Columella 11.2.
Courts & law
Courts reopened after the Saturnalia. New magistrates took up their duties, and the praetor's edict, the rules for his year in office, was posted late Republic.
Senate & politics
From 153 BC the consuls took office on 1 January, sacrificing on the Capitol; the year was named after them. In the empire, officials and soldiers renewed vows for the emperor's safety on 3 January varies by era.
Military
Armies sat in winter quarters; campaigning in snow was rare and feared. Soldiers on the frontiers renewed their oath to the emperor at the start of the year imperial era.
Festivals & religion
Janus, god of doorways and beginnings, was honoured on the Kalends; the Agonalia (9 Jan.), the Carmentalia for the birth-goddess Carmenta (11 and 15 Jan.) and the movable Compitalia at crossroads shrines followed per Ovid, Fasti 1.
Daily life
The Kalends of January opened the civil year, with new consuls, vows for the emperor's safety and small gifts (strenae) of dates, figs and coins for good luck per Ovid, Fasti 1. The Kalends of every month was also when interest fell due, so for debtors the first of the month could be dreaded; the account book itself was called the kalendarium per Seneca and the Digest.
Winter was the hungry season for many. Rome's free monthly grain ration helped only registered male citizens (about 200,000 under Augustus) per Suetonius, Aug. 40, and Res Gestae 15; others bought at market prices. Columella says pious farmers did no field work in the days before the Kalends and restarted every kind of work on 1 January for good omen per Columella 11.2.
Sources: Ovid, Fasti 1 · Columella 11.2 · Suetonius, Augustus 40–42
All days in January →
LATIN LINE OF THE DAY
Hominem pagina nostra sapit.
“My page tastes of humanity.”
Martial, Epigrams 10.4 · translation ours (literal)
