Calendars in Antiquity. Empires, States, and Societies

Table 5.6.

The calendar of Asia and its variants according to the

hemerologia

Ephesus (Florence MS)= Asia (Leiden MS)

a

Asia(FlorenceMS)

Asia-Pamphylia(Vatican MS)

Bithynia (Florence,Vatican MSS)

Bithynia(Leiden MS)

Cyprus(FlorenceMS)

Cyprus(VaticanMS)

Crete(FlorenceMS)

Crete(VaticanMS)

23/9

24/9

23/9

23/9

23/9

23/9

22/9

23/9

23/9

24/10

24/10

24/10

24/10

24/10

24/10

23/10

24/10

23/10

23/11

23/11 or24/11

b

23/11

c

23/11

23/11

23/11

23/11

23/11

23/11

24/12

24/12

24/12

24/12

24/12

24/12

23/12

24/12

24/12

24/1

24/1

24/1

24/1

24/1

24/1

24/1

24/1

24/1

21/2

21/2

21/2

21/2

21/2

21/2

21/2

21/2

21/2

24/3

24/3

24/3

23/3

23/3

23/3

23/3

24/3

23/3

23/4

23/4

23/4

d

23/4

23/4

23/4

23/4

23/4

23/4

24/5

24/5

24/5

24/5

23/5

24/5

24/5

24/5

24/5

23/6

23/6

23/6

e

23/6

23/6

23/6

23/6

23/6

23/6

24/7

24/7

23/

7

24/7

24/7

24/7

23/

f 7

24/7

23/

7

24/8

g

24/8

24/8

h

23/8

i

23/8

j

23/8

23/8

23/8

23/8

a

This calendar is identical with that of the Priene inscription.

b

On 23/11 the text reads

ðæïô

’(for

ðæïôæØÆŒÜò

, i.e. the penultimate day of the month; see Ch. 1 n .68), but this must be an error, since 21/11 is already

ðæïô

’, and 22/11 is 30 (of

month Tiberion), whilst 24/11 is 1 (of month Apatourion). Clearly, the correct entry for 23/11 must be either 31 Tiberion or 1 Apatourion (if the latter

, 1 Apatourion would be

duplicated on 23/11 and 24/11; duplication of day 1 is common in the calendars of the

hemerologia

). Internal evidence supports the latter, because in the

‘Asia

’column of the

Florence MS there is no

‘day 31

’(instead, all 31-day months duplicate day 1 of the month and end on day 30), and moreover, all other Asian-type calendars in the

hemerologia

begin

this month on 23/11, as this table shows. However, a month beginning on 24/11 is attested in the calendar inscription of Metropolis (located south of Sm

yrna,

firmly within the

province of Asia: Engelmann 1999: 142

• 3), with months beginning on 24/9 and 24/10 (just as in this column of the Florence manuscript), followed by 24/11. In this light, the date of

this month must be left uncertain.c

In this month, 20/11 is 3 (in backward count, i.e. 3rd day from the end of the month; see Ch. 1 n. 67), 21/11 is at once

ðæïô

’and 1 (which does not make sense:

ðæïôæØÆŒÜò

is the

penultimate or 2nd day from the end of the month, and 1, presumably also in backward count, is the last day), 22/11 and 23/11 are both

Sebaste

(i.e.

‘of Augustus

’a common

alternative designation of the

first day of the month, here duplicated), and 24/11 is 2. In Greek lunar hollow months (i.e. of 29 days) it was not uncommon for

ðæïôæØÆŒÜò

to be

omitted (and thus for the count of days to jump from backward 3 to 1: ibid. n. 68), but there is no attestation of a day

’s being reckoned as both

ðæïôæØÆŒÜò

and 1; anyway, the

omission of the penultimate day of the month has no place in a Julianized calendar, which has no 29-day months. It is likely, therefore, that 21/11 is

ðæïô

’, 22/11 is 1 (of the old

month, in backward count), and the next month has only one

Sebaste

day, on 23/11. Kubitschek (1915: 96) rightly remarks that the duplication of

Sebaste

here is suspect (but I see