Today it is Dies Nefastus Publicus – the day reserved for religious holidays. They are almost like Dies NEFASTI, but administrative activities must not be performed during them. It is not recommended to perform any kind of physical labor. So, if you want to hang out with your fellow-Romans – don’t talk about serious matters – just gather together and praise a God or a Goddess to whom this specific day is dedicated. Oh! And don’t forget to give your slaves a day-off!
It is the Ides Ianuariae.
It is the E nundial day, the 8th day before the market day this year.
Today Romans celebrate Ides of January – the day dedicated to Iuppiter. He was the son of Saturn, the god of agriculture, and Ops, the goddess of wealth and abundance. He had five other siblings who were Neptune (god of the sea), Pluto (ruler of the underworld), Vesta (goddess of the hearth), Juno (goddess of fertility) and Ceres (goddess of agriculture). Unfortunately, Saturn was so worried that his children would try to overtake him that he ate them, swallowing each of them whole in one big gulp. But Ops managed to outsmart Saturn, tricking him into eating a rock wrapped in cloth instead of Jupiter. When Saturn swallowed the rock, it made him so sick that he vomited up all the other children. Understandably they were pretty annoyed with their dad, so they all overthrew him for his act of treachery, thus fulfilling his worst fears. Together the siblings divided the universe up amongst themselves, with Jupiter at the helm.
