a.d. XV Kal. Dec.
November 17 in Ancient Rome
Birth of Vespasian
birthAD 9
Julian date · ≈ Nov 15 on our calendar
Vespasian, founder of the Flavian dynasty and builder of the Colosseum, was born near Reate.
Vespasian
Background
Titus Flavius Vespasianus was born on 17 November AD 9 in a village called Falacrinae, just beyond Reate (modern Rieti) in the Sabine country per Suetonius. His family was respectable but not noble: his grandfather was a centurion or soldier who became a debt collector, and his father collected customs taxes in Asia and later lent money among the Helvetii per Suetonius. He was raised largely by his paternal grandmother on her estate at Cosa.
This modest, money-minded background shaped his image. He rose through the army, commanded a legion in the invasion of Britain in AD 43, and was given the war in Judaea in 67. In the chaos of 69, the "year of the four emperors", the eastern legions proclaimed him emperor.
Vespasian restored order and the treasury after Nero and the civil wars, started the Colosseum, and founded the Flavian dynasty. Suetonius preserves his dry humour, including the joke on his deathbed in 79: "I think I'm becoming a god" per Suetonius.
Ancient source: Suetonius, Vespasian 2 · Reference
Sources
Read moreDeath of Valentinian I
Death of Valentinian I
deathAD 375
Julian date · ≈ Nov 18 on our calendar
Valentinian I died of a stroke at Brigetio after losing his temper with envoys of the Quadi. His sons Gratian and Valentinian II succeeded him.
Valentinian I
Background
Valentinian I, a tough Pannonian officer chosen emperor by the army in 364, spent most of his reign defending the Rhine and Danube. In 375 he campaigned against the Quadi, who had raided Pannonia after the Romans murdered their king Gabinius at a banquet.
At Brigetio, on the Danube, he received a Quadic embassy. The envoys excused the raids by blaming the Roman fort-building on their land. Ammianus says Valentinian flew into a rage, then suffered what seems to have been a stroke: he lost his voice, bled, and died soon after, on 17 November, aged 54 per Ammianus; the epitomes give similar accounts.
His death left the West to his sons: Gratian, already Augustus at 16, and the four-year-old Valentinian II, proclaimed by the army five days later. In the East his brother Valens ruled until his death at Adrianople in 378. Ammianus paints Valentinian as able but notoriously cruel and quick-tempered; he even claims the emperor kept two man-eating bears near his bedroom per Ammianus, likely hostile gossip.
Ancient source: Ammianus Marcellinus 30.5–6 · 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): 16°/9°C (61°/48°F) · rain 41% of days
Rome in NovemberFor farmers, the weeks of ploughing and sowing were long and wet.
Columella
North-east wind; sometimes south wind with rain. (De Re Rust. 11.2)
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
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