Hour system with days divided into 24 hours
In
Roman timekeeping
, a day was divided into periods according to the available technology. Initially, the day was divided into two parts: the
ante meridiem
(before noon) and the
post meridiem
(after noon). With the advent of the
sundial
circa 263 BC, the period of the
natural day
from sunrise to sunset was divided into twelve
hours
.
[1]
Variation
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An hour was defined as one twelfth of the
daytime
, or the time elapsed between sunset and sunrise. Since the duration varied with the seasons, this also meant that the length of the hour changed. Winter days being shorter, the hours were correspondingly shorter and longer in summer.
[1]
At
Mediterranean
latitude, one hour was about 45 minutes at the
winter solstice
, and 75 minutes at
summer solstice
.
[2]
The Romans understood that as well as varying by season, the
length of daytime
depended on
latitude
.
Subdivision of the day and night
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Civil day
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The civil day (
dies civilis
) ran from midnight (
media nox
) to midnight.
[3]
The date of birth of children was given as this period.
[4]
It was divided into the following parts:
- Media nox
(midnight)
- Mediae noctis inclinatio
(the middle of the night)
- Gallicinium
(cock crowing)
- Conticinium
(cock stops crowing)
- Diluculum
(dawn)
- Mane
(morning)
- Antemeridianum tempus
(forenoon)
- Meridies
(mid-day)
- Tempus pomeridianum
(afternoon)
- Solis occasus
(sunset)
- Vespera
(evening)
- Crepusculum
(twilight)
- Prima fax
(lighting of candles)
- Concubia nox
(bed-time)
- Intempesta nox
(far into the night)
- Inclinatio ad mediam noctem
(approaching midnight)
[3]
Natural day
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The natural day (
dies naturalis
) ran from sunrise to sunset.
[4]
The hours were numbered from one to twelve as
hora prima
,
hora secunda
,
hora tertia
, etc. To indicate that it is a day or night hour, Romans used expressions such as for example
prima diei hora
(first hour of the day), and
prima noctis hora
(first hour of the night).
[5]
Timekeeping devices
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The Romans used various
ancient timekeeping devices
.
Sundials
, or shadow clocks, were set up in public places,
[2]
beginning after one was imported from
Sicily
in 263 BC.
[6]
Sundials were used to calibrate
water clocks
.
[7]
The disadvantage of sundials was that they worked only in sunshine and had to be recalibrated depending on the
latitude
and season.
[8]
Legacy
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]
The Roman day starting at dawn survives today in the Spanish word
siesta
, literally the sixth hour of the day (
sexta hora
).
[9]
The daytime
canonical hours
of the
Catholic Church
take their names from the Roman clock: the
prime
,
terce
,
sext
and
none
occur during the first (
pr?ma
) = 6 am, third (
tertia
) = 9 am, sixth (
sexta
) = 12 pm, and ninth (
n?na
) = 3 pm, hours of the day.
The English term
noon
is also derived from the ninth hour. This was a period of prayer initially held at three in the afternoon but eventually moved back to
midday
for unknown reasons.
[10]
The change of meaning was complete by around 1300.
[11]
The terms a.m. and p.m. are still used in the
12-hour clock
, as opposed to the
24-hour clock
.
See also
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References
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]
- ^
a
b
Aldrete, Gregory S. (2004).
Daily Life in the Roman City: Rome, Pompeii and Ostia
. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp.
241
-244.
ISBN
978-0-313-33174-9
. Retrieved
24 December
2019
.
- ^
a
b
Laurence, Ray (2006).
Roman Pompeii: Space and Society
. Routledge. pp. 104?112.
ISBN
978-1-134-76899-8
. Retrieved
24 December
2019
.
- ^
a
b
Adam, Alexander (1791).
Roman antiquities: or an account of the manners and customs of the Romans, respecting their government, magistracy, laws ... designed chiefly to illustrate the Latin classics
. Edinburgh: William Creech. pp. 307?308
. Retrieved
24 December
2019
.
- ^
a
b
CENSORINUS (238).
"DE DIE NATALI"
.
elfinspell.com
. Retrieved
25 December
2019
.
- ^
Traupman, John C. (2007).
Conversational Latin for Oral Proficiency: Phrase Book and Dictionary, Classical and Neo-Latin
(in Latin). Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers. p. 80.
ISBN
978-0-86516-622-6
. Retrieved
24 December
2019
.
- ^
"Timekeeping in the Ancient Mediterranean and Near East"
.
The MD Harris Institute
. 29 September 2013
. Retrieved
24 December
2019
.
- ^
Grattan, Kenneth.
"A brief history of telling time"
.
The Conversation
. Retrieved
24 December
2019
.
- ^
"Ancient Everyday ? Telling Time in the Roman World"
.
Eagles and Dragons Publishing
. 1 July 2017
. Retrieved
24 December
2019
.
- ^
"Definition of SEXT"
.
www.merriam-webster.com
. Retrieved
25 December
2019
.
- ^
"What Time Is 'Noon'?"
.
www.merriam-webster.com
. Retrieved
25 December
2019
.
- ^
"noon"
.
www.etymonline.com
. Retrieved
25 December
2019
.
External links
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]