a.d. III Id. Nov.
November 11 in Ancient Rome
Conference of Carnuntum
politicsAD 308
Julian date · ≈ Nov 12 on our calendar
Galerius called a meeting with Diocletian and Maximian at Carnuntum to repair the Tetrarchy; Licinius was made Augustus.
Diocletian
Background
Diocletian's Tetrarchy, a system of two senior emperors (Augusti) and two juniors (Caesars), fell apart soon after he and Maximian retired in 305. By 308 there were too many claimants: Galerius and Severus' successor in the East and Balkans, Constantine in Gaul and Britain, Maxentius holding Rome, and the old Maximian trying to return.
Galerius invited Diocletian out of retirement to a meeting at Carnuntum, a legionary fortress on the Danube near modern Vienna. Diocletian refused to take power again, reportedly saying he would rather grow cabbages at Salona, near his palace at modern Split per the Epitome de Caesaribus, a late and anecdotal source. Maximian was made to step down, and Licinius, a friend of Galerius, was named Augustus of the West the 11 November date is from the Consularia Constantinopolitana, which we could not open.
The settlement did not hold. Constantine and Maxentius ignored it, and within five years the system had dissolved into the wars from which Constantine emerged as sole ruler.
Ancient source: Consularia Constantinopolitana (s.a. 308); Zosimus, New History 2 · Reference
Sources
Read moreLudi Plebeii (Plebeian Games), Nov 4–17
Ludi Plebeii (Plebeian Games), Nov 4–17
festivalRepublic & Empire (annual)
Roman calendar date
The Plebeian Games filled two weeks of mid-November with theatre, a cavalry parade on the 14th and chariot races on the 15th–17th.
Ludi Plebeii (Plebeian Games)
Background
The Plebeian Games were the second great festival of games in the Roman year after the Ludi Romani of September. They were run by the plebeian aediles, junior magistrates who used them to win popularity before seeking higher office. Livy first mentions them in 216 BC; by the late Republic they filled roughly two weeks of November.
The programme mixed theatre, a sacred banquet for Jupiter (the Epulum Iovis, on the Ides), a parade of the cavalry and chariot races in the Circus Maximus at the end. Plautus' play Stichus was staged at these games in 200 BC, according to its production notice.
For ordinary Romans, games days were public holidays when shops and courts closed. Entry to the theatre and circus was free, though seating was arranged by rank. A family could spend a day watching comedies and races, but a day not working also meant a day without wages for labourers who depended on daily hire.
Ancient source: Fasti Maffeiani (Inscr. Ital. XIII.2: ludi plebeii 4–17 Nov.); Chronography of 354 (LVDI PLEBEI 12–15 Nov.); Livy 25.2.10 · Reference
Sources
☁ Rome today (1991–2020 avg): 17°/9°C (63°/48°F) · rain 41% of days
Rome in NovemberFor farmers, the weeks of ploughing and sowing were long and wet.
Fields & crops
Main sowing of wheat and beans; Columella marks winter's start around 10 November and advises finishing sowing by the Kalends of December per Columella 11.2.
Courts & law
The Plebeian Games (4–17 Nov.) closed courts on many days; legal business resumed in late November late Republic.
Senate & politics
Elections for the next year's magistrates were sometimes delayed into autumn in troubled years; Cicero's First Catilinarian was delivered in November 63 BC.
Military
Sailing largely stopped from around 11 November per Vegetius, a late source; armies moved into winter quarters.
Festivals & religion
Ludi Plebeii with the Epulum Iovis on the Ides; in late antiquity the Isia of Isis (28 Oct.–1 Nov.) and the start of the Brumalia (24 Nov.) per the Chronography of 354.
Daily life
For farmers, the weeks of ploughing and sowing were long and wet. In Rome, the Plebeian Games brought free shows, but a holiday meant no pay for day labourers. With sea traffic stopped, city grain prices depended on what had been stored before winter.
The poor lived in crowded apartment blocks (insulae), where upper floors had no water or heating and braziers caused fires; Juvenal mocks the risk of collapse and fire satire, Juvenal 3.
Sources: Columella 11.2 · Chronography of 354 · Juvenal, Satire 3
All days in November →
LATIN LINE OF THE DAY
Rumpitur invidia quidam, carissime Iuli, quod me Roma legit.
“Someone is bursting with envy, dearest Julius, because Rome reads me.”
Martial, Epigrams 9.97 · translation ours (literal)
