Dear Mario, Many thanks for your kind explanation...
> Censorinus and Gellius citing Varro say that > in Rome the day was intended in two ways: natural > and civil. I am slowly gaining some understanding of time in ancient Rome. Gianni Ferrari has pointed us at: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Dies.html This confirms what you say and refers to: dies naturalis and dies civilis Can you tell me how the common people knew what the time was? If the Circus Maximus announced a good chariot race next Friday, or the Colosseum announced a big fight next Saturday, how would people arrive at the right time? Did a Praeter go through the streets ringing a bell? Were there public klepshydras? Were there sundials on many buildings? It is hard to understand how a big city could work unless the citizens knew the time! Best wishes Frank --------------------------------------------------- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
