a.d. XII Kal. Dec.
November 20 in Ancient Rome
Diocletian proclaimed emperor
politicsAD 284
Julian date · ≈ Nov 20 on our calendar
The eastern army met near Nicomedia and acclaimed Diocles, commander of the guard, as emperor.
Diocletian
Background
In 284 the emperor Carus died during a campaign in Persia, reportedly struck by lightning per the Historia Augusta and others; the cause is disputed. His son Numerian led the army home but was found dead in his litter near Nicomedia, his death apparently hidden for days. Suspicion fell on the praetorian prefect Aper, Numerian's father-in-law.
On 20 November the army assembled near Nicomedia and chose Diocles, commander of the imperial bodyguard, as emperor. Before the troops he swore he had no part in Numerian's death and then killed Aper with his own sword per Aurelius Victor and the Historia Augusta. He took the name Diocletian. Carus' other son Carinus still ruled the West; Diocletian defeated him in 285.
Diocletian, of humble Dalmatian origin, went on to end the half-century of crisis. He shared power in the Tetrarchy, enlarged the army and bureaucracy, reformed taxes and coinage, issued the Edict on Maximum Prices, and launched the last great persecution of Christians in 303.
Ancient source: Aurelius Victor, De Caesaribus 39.1; Lactantius, DMP 17.1 · Reference
Sources
Read moreDiocletian's twentieth anniversary
Diocletian's twentieth anniversary
politicsAD 303
Julian date · ≈ Nov 21 on our calendar
Diocletian and Maximian celebrated in Rome the twentieth year of his reign, the Tetrarchy's tenth and a triumph over Persia.
Diocletian
Background
Roman emperors marked ten- and twenty-year anniversaries (decennalia, vicennalia) with vows, games and gifts to soldiers and people. In 303 Diocletian came to Rome, possibly for the first time as emperor, to celebrate his twentieth year with Maximian; Lactantius dates the vicennalia to 20 November per Lactantius, a hostile Christian witness. It also marked ten years of the Tetrarchy and a triumph over Persia, won by Galerius in 298.
The visit went badly. Lactantius says Diocletian could not bear the Roman people's free speech and left the city in December, shortly before he was due to enter his ninth consulship, setting off in cold, rainy weather and falling ill on the way per Lactantius.
The celebration came in the same year as the Great Persecution, which began in February 303 with orders to destroy churches and scriptures. For Christians in Rome and the provinces, the festive year was one of arrests, confiscations and, for some, execution.
Ancient source: Lactantius, De Mortibus Persecutorum 17.1 (a.d. XII Kal. Dec.) · Reference
Sources
☁ Rome today (1991–2020 avg): 15°/8°C (59°/46°F) · rain 39% 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
Lasciva est nobis pagina, vita proba.
“My page is playful; my life is upright.”
Martial, Epigrams 1.4 · translation ours (literal)
