a.d. XV Kal. Ian.
December 18 in Ancient Rome
Vitellius tries to abdicate
politicsAD 69
Julian date · ≈ Dec 16 on our calendar
Hearing that his troops at Narnia had surrendered, Vitellius left the Palace in mourning clothes with his small son and tried to give up power before the people.
Vitellius
Background
Aulus Vitellius was proclaimed emperor by the Rhine legions in January 69 and took Rome after defeating Otho in April. By autumn the eastern and Danubian legions had declared for Vespasian, and the Danubian army under Antonius Primus defeated the Vitellians at Cremona in October; the city was then sacked by the victors.
When Vitellius' last army surrendered at Narnia in December, he negotiated with Vespasian's brother Flavius Sabinus, prefect of the city, to step down in return for his life and money. On 18 December, according to Tacitus, he left the Palace in mourning dress, surrounded by his weeping household, with his small son carried in a litter, and tried to hand his dagger to the consul as a sign of giving up power per Tacitus. The crowd and his soldiers refused to let him abdicate and blocked his way, forcing him back to the Palace.
The next day fighting broke out. Sabinus and his supporters took refuge on the Capitol, which was stormed by Vitellian troops; the ancient temple of Jupiter burned, and Sabinus was killed. Within days Vespasian's army entered Rome.
Ancient source: Tacitus, Histories 3.67–68 · Reference
Sources
Read moreSaturnalia begins
Saturnalia begins
festivalAnnual
Roman calendar date
Rome's festival of Saturn began with a public banquet and the cry 'io Saturnalia'. It later stretched to 23 December.
Saturnalia
Background
The Saturnalia, honouring the old god Saturn, was Rome's most loved festival. It began on 17 December with a sacrifice at the temple of Saturn in the Forum, followed by a public banquet; the woollen bonds on the feet of Saturn's statue were loosened for the festival per Macrobius and Statius. Originally one day, it later stretched to several; Augustus set three days and Caligula added a fifth, and by the late empire it ran to 23 December per Macrobius 1.10.
During the festival, business and courts stopped, people swapped the toga for casual dress and the felt cap of freedmen (pilleus), gambled openly, and gave gifts: wax candles (cerei) and small pottery figurines (sigillaria). Catullus called it "the best of days" (14.15). Households let enslaved people eat with, or be served by, their owners, and speak freely per Macrobius, Accius quoted by him, and Seneca.
These reversals were real but temporary; the enslaved returned to their condition when the holiday ended. Seneca, writing in December, notes that the whole city seemed to go wild while he debated whether a wise man should join in per Seneca, Ep. 18. Many Saturnalia customs—feasting, gifts and candles—later fed into Christmas and New Year traditions modern view; the exact links are debated.
Ancient source: Catullus 14.15 ('Saturnalibus, optimo dierum') · Reference
Sources
☁ Rome today (1991–2020 avg): 12°/4°C (54°/39°F) · rain 33% of days
Rome in DecemberDecember's highlight was the Saturnalia (from 17 December).
Columella
Signals a change of wind. (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
Lasciva est nobis pagina, vita proba.
“My page is playful; my life is upright.”
Martial, Epigrams 1.4 · translation ours (literal)
