a.d. XIII Kal. Sept.
August 20 in Ancient Rome
Death of Lucius Caesar
deathAD 2
Julian date · ≈ Aug 18 on our calendar
Lucius Caesar, grandson and adopted son of Augustus and one of his two intended heirs, died at Massilia aged 19.
Background
Augustus had adopted his grandsons Gaius and Lucius, the sons of his daughter Julia and Agrippa, and groomed them as successors. Lucius fell ill on his way to the armies in Spain and died at Massilia (Marseille).
Calendars marked the day of his death with annual offerings to the dead. Gaius died eighteen months later, and in AD 4 Augustus adopted Tiberius.
Ancient source: Fasti Antiates (XIII K. Sept.: inferiae L. Caesari); Cenotaphium Pisanum · Reference
Sources
☁ Rome today (1991–2020 avg): 31°/20°C (88°/68°F) · rain 12% of days
Rome in AugustThe hottest weeks raised the risk of fire in the dense city, especially in…
Columella
The sun enters Virgo; this day and the next signal a storm, sometimes thunder. (De Re Rust. 11.2)
Fields & crops
Columella marks autumn beginning around 12 August; straw and stubble were gathered, figs and early fruit picked, and vineyards readied for the vintage per Columella 11.2.
Courts & law
A quieter legal month; many elite Romans were in the countryside. Under the empire, the imperial household's slaves and freedmen kept administration running.
Senate & politics
Renamed from Sextilis in 8 BC for Augustus, who had won his greatest successes in this month, including the capture of Alexandria in 30 BC per Macrobius 1.12.35.
Military
Armies stayed in the field; disease in hot camps was often as dangerous as battle modern view based on ancient accounts.
Festivals & religion
Portunalia (17 Aug.), Vinalia Rustica (19 Aug.), Consualia (21 Aug.), Vulcanalia (23 Aug.), when small fish were offered to Vulcan to ward off fire, and Opiconsivia (25 Aug.) per Varro and Festus. On the Ides, Diana's day, enslaved people had a holiday per Festus and Plutarch.
Daily life
The hottest weeks raised the risk of fire in the dense city, especially in timber-framed insulae; Augustus set up the vigiles, a fire brigade of freedmen, in AD 6 per Suetonius and Dio. Fevers peaked in late summer and early autumn; the sick poor relied on home remedies and shrines more than on doctors modern view.
Sources: Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.12 · Columella 11.2
All days in August →
LATIN LINE OF THE DAY
Hominem pagina nostra sapit.
“My page tastes of humanity.”
Martial, Epigrams 10.4 · translation ours (literal)
