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Happy New Year From BLSJCL
S
omewhere around 8 CE, inter-
rupted by his exile, the poet
Ovid had been working on a
set of twelve books, each focused
on a month in the Julian calendar,
called the Fasti. Each book is bro-
ken into days, each day describing
a different Roman tradition, holiday,
or astrological occurrence. And so,
the first day is the beginning of the
New Year, January 1st. Unlike many
other ancient cultures, whose New
Years began around the time of the
spring equinox, Romans celebrated
in January, which Ovid explains:
“principium capiunt Phoebus et an-
nus idem”, or that “Phoebus [Apollo]
and the year take the same begin-
ning”. In other words, because the
winter solstice is the darkest day,
Romans therefore took the days
afterwards as the beginning of a
new sun, which Apollo was said to
drive, and a new year. Dedicated to
the two-headed god of beginnings,
Janus, the first day of the New Year
in the time of Ovid was a feast day
with a procession, a sacrifice of
cattle, and ritualistic pomp. Ac-
cording to the poet, a priest would
offer cake and spelt, a type of grain,
mixed with salt to the god, who
would be called Patulcius and Clu-
sius (from the words pateo, to be
open, and claudo, to close, respec-
tively). Although it was a feast day,
the Kalends of January was not a
holiday from work or official busi-
ness, and was instead the begin-
ning of a new political year, with
“novi fasces”, new rods of office,
representing the power of the state,
and new consuls. It was common
for everyone to wish each other
well and for sweets and money to
be given as gifts, as the entire day
stood as an omen for the year to
come. And so, in the Roman tradi-
tion, bene, JCLers, volo, I wish you
well, JCLers, in this New Year and
the years to come.
-Anna Aldins, Class I
Roman tradition holds
that the “New Year” is
to be celebrated with a
large procession and
feast, and celebrates
the beginning of a new
sun. The New political
year began and the new
officials were present-
ed with their ceremoni-
al “fasces” to legitimize
their rule.
Roman Civilians Participate in a Sacrifice