a.d. XI Kal. Iul.
June 21 in Ancient Rome
First stone of the new Capitoline temple
Gold in the foundations of Jupiter’s temple
religionAD 70
Julian date · ≈ Jun 19 on our calendar
Tacitus describes how, on 21 June 70, priests, Vestals, magistrates and crowds laid the foundation stone of the temple of Jupiter on the Capitol, burned the year before.
Background
In December 69, during the civil war that brought Vespasian to power, the temple of Jupiter Best and Greatest on the Capitol burned down in fighting between his supporters and those of Vitellius. It was the most sacred building in Rome, and its loss felt like a terrible omen. The new regime made rebuilding it a priority.
Tacitus describes the ceremony in detail per Tacitus. The work was entrusted to Lucius Vestinus, a knight. Soothsayers advised that the ruins be carried away to the marshes and the new temple built on the same plan. On 21 June, a day of bright sunshine, the whole site was decorated with garlands. Soldiers with lucky names entered carrying branches of lucky trees; then came the Vestal Virgins with boys and girls whose parents were both alive, sprinkling the area with spring and river water. The praetor Helvidius Priscus sacrificed a pig, a sheep and an ox, prayed to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, and took hold of the ribbons tied to the ropes. Magistrates, priests, senators, knights and crowds dragged the huge stone into place, and gifts of gold and silver were thrown into the foundations.
It is one of the most vivid descriptions of a Roman building ceremony to survive.
Ancient source: Tacitus, Histories 4.53 · Reference
Sources
☁ Rome today (1991–2020 avg): 28°/17°C (82°/63°F) · rain 11% of days
Rome in JuneHarvest meant long days for gangs of hired reapers, often seasonal migrant…
Fields & crops
Grain harvest began in the lowlands: wheat was reaped, threshed on the threshing floor and stored. Columella advises clearing the floor and preparing granaries per Columella 11.2.
Courts & law
Normal court business. As on every Kalends, interest on loans fell due on 1 June, also the day of Carna, goddess of the body's vital organs, honoured with bean porridge and bacon per Ovid, Fasti 6.101–82.
Senate & politics
No fixed political dates, but in the Republic elections were often held in summer, with candidates canvassing in whitened togas late Republic; often July.
Military
Campaigns continued; harvests in enemy territory were sometimes burned or seized to feed armies.
Festivals & religion
The Vestalia (9 June), when bakers and millers garlanded their donkeys and mill-stones and women walked barefoot to Vesta's temple; the temple was cleaned on 15 June per Ovid, Fasti 6. Fishermen's games were held across the Tiber on 7 June.
Daily life
Harvest meant long days for gangs of hired reapers, often seasonal migrant labourers, alongside enslaved workers per Varro, Rust. 1.17, on hiring free labourers for harvests. Summer heat in Rome brought fevers, probably malaria in low, marshy districts; the wealthy left for hill or seaside villas per Horace and Celsus; malaria identification modern. The poor stayed in hot, crowded insulae.
Sources: Ovid, Fasti 6 · Varro, Res Rusticae 1.17
All days in June →
LATIN LINE OF THE DAY
Aut quid fecerunt optima vina mali?
“Or what harm have the best wines done?”
Martial, Epigrams 1.18.4 · translation ours (literal)
