Lupine Publishers_Peer Reviewed Journal of Forensic
& Genetic Sciences.
The Emergence of Time in Latin Literature by Patrice F Dassonville in Peer Reviewed Journal of Forensic & Genetic Sciences in Lupine_Publishers.
During the thirteenth century BC, the Lydians, who were Greeks of Asia Minor, were compelled by famine to emigrate to what is now Tuscany, where they established a new civilization with the native population. According to the Greek historian Herodotus (484- 425), these were the Etruscans. (Book I, 94) [1]. Their alphabet derived from Greek in the eighth century BC and it gave the Roman alphabet in the seventh century BC (Frédérix, Ch I) [2]. In order to situate themselves in relation to what they observed, the Romans unknowingly started conceptualizing some current phenomena and some familiar events. In this way and step by step, they enriched their language by introducing new concepts. The Latin literature allows one to observe the emergence of temporality in the Roman civilization, as well as to follow its gradual development.The Calends was the first day of the lunar month. We find Calendae in Cicero (106-43) and Calendae Martiae (the Calends of March) in Horace (65-8 AD). It was unknown to the Greeks, hence the famous proverb in Suetonius (c.70-c.122): ad calendas graecas solvere(pay at the Greek Calends), which meant never (Gaffiot) [3]. The Consul Ausonius, in The other prayer to the calends of January (379 AD), was the first in Rome to associate the regular advent of seasons with annus (Quet p. 553) [4]. Indeed, before Ausonius, the year had erratic values. In Valerius Martialis (first century BC) we find intra septimas calendasfor before six months [3]. The month was the lunar month. The month of January was dedicated to Janus : the very ancient God with two faces opened and closed the year. For the Senufo of the Ivory Coast, the Janus type of sculpture represents time passing ; one face is looking at the past while the other is looking toward the future.In Rome, there was no reference event, so for each year the text began by : Under the consulate of.
For example, wines were dated using the names of the two consuls who held office that year. Their names were inscribed on the amphorae ; it was called the consular year [2]. The Latin annalist Tacit (c.55-c.120) envied these great historians who described such major events. His Annals (from Latin annales) are an annual narrative of the facts according to the consular chronology : facts, minor at first view, but which often produce great events (Book IV, Ch. XXXII, 2) [5]. The narration of the events was drafted by the magistrates and recorded in the acta senatus, the Journal of Acts. [2] The Romans engraved their laws on stone tablets and their archives on copper tablets, in order to preserve them inside the Capitol. Tacit explained how the Romans came to draft an infinite number of laws, and he emphasized the diversity of the laws (Book III, Ch. XXV, 2) [5]. The Sicilian Diodorus (c.90-30) confided: We looked carefully at the records held by the Romans for so long, in order to bring to light the history of this huge empire [6].
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