a.d. IX Kal. Nov.
October 24 in Ancient Rome
Birth of Domitian
Escape in the robes of Isis
birthAD 51
Julian date · ≈ Oct 22 on our calendar
The future emperor Domitian was born at the Pomegranate on the Quirinal while his father Vespasian was consul-elect; Suetonius says he grew up poor.
Domitianus natus est VIIII. Kal. Novemb. patre consule designato inituroque mense insequenti honorem
Domitian was born on the ninth day before the Kalends of November, when his father was consul-elect and was to take office the following month.
Background
Domitian, younger son of Vespasian, was born while his father was consul-elect, due to take office the following month. Suetonius places his birth in the sixth region of the city, at a spot called the Pomegranate, in a house he later turned into a temple of the Flavian family.
His youth, Suetonius says, was spent in such poverty that he did not own a single piece of silver plate. Suetonius also repeats scandalous stories about him, which he attributes to others per Suetonius.
In AD 69, during the civil war with Vitellius, Domitian took refuge on the Capitol with his uncle Sabinus. When Vitellius' men broke in and the temple caught fire, he hid all night with the temple attendant. The next morning he slipped out disguised as a worshipper of Isis, mixed among the priests of that cult, and escaped across the Tiber to the mother of a schoolfellow. After his father's victory he took the name of Caesar, and in 81 he succeeded his brother Titus. He would rule for fifteen years before he was assassinated in his own bedroom in 96.
Ancient source: Suetonius, Domitian 1 · Reference
Sources
☁ Rome today (1991–2020 avg): 20°/12°C (68°/54°F) · rain 31% of days
Rome in OctoberOctober ended the vintage and the olive harvest began.
Fields & crops
End of the vintage and start of the olive harvest; autumn ploughing and the first sowing of grain began after the rains per Columella 11.2. Cato lists rations for a farm's enslaved workers: more bread when they dig or tend vines, less in winter per Cato, Agr. 56.
Courts & law
Courts busy again after the summer; many wealthy Romans returned to the city. In the late Republic, trials resumed in force after the summer and autumn games, and many famous speeches were given in these months late Republic.
Senate & politics
Under the empire, Domitian briefly renamed October 'Domitianus' after himself; the name vanished after his murder per Suetonius, Dom. 13.
Military
The campaign season closed. The Armilustrium (19 Oct.) purified the army's weapons, and the October Horse sacrifice (15 Oct.) was dedicated to Mars per Varro and Festus.
Festivals & religion
Meditrinalia (11 Oct.), tasting the new wine as medicine; Fontinalia (13 Oct.), garlanding springs and wells; October Horse; Armilustrium per Varro, De Lingua Latina 6.21–22. The October Horse: after a race on the Campus Martius, the right-hand horse of the winning chariot was sacrificed to Mars, and residents of the Sacred Way and the Subura fought over its head per Festus.
Daily life
October ended the vintage and the olive harvest began. On farms, enslaved workers and hired day labourers pressed grapes and stored wine; Cato lists the rations of bread and cheap wine (lora) given to a farm's enslaved workforce per Cato, Agr. 56–57. In the city, the sailing season was closing, so grain had to be stockpiled before winter storms made sea transport dangerous.
Sources: Varro, De Lingua Latina 6 · Columella 11.2 · Cato, De Agri Cultura 56–57
All days in October →
LATIN LINE OF THE DAY
Sera nimis vita est crastina: vive hodie.
“Tomorrow's life is too late: live today.”
Martial, Epigrams 1.15 · translation ours (literal)
