HORA
HORA (
ὥρα), in the signification
of hour, that is, the 12th part of the natural day, did not come into
general use among the ancients until about the middle of the second century
B.C. The equinoctial hours, though known to astronomers, were not used in
the affairs of common life till towards the end of the fourth century of the
Christian era. The division of the day was marked very roughly by the
position of the sun (Varro,
L. L. 6.89). As the division of
the natural day into twelve equal parts, both in summer and winter, rendered
the duration of the hours longer or shorter according to the different
seasons of the year, it is not easy, with accuracy, to compare or reduce the
hours of the ancients to our equinoctial hours. The hours of an ancient day
would only coincide with the hours of our day at the two equinoxes. [
DIES and
HOROLOGIUM] As the duration
of the natural day, moreover, depends on the polar altitude of a place, our
natural days would not coincide with the natural days in Italy or Greece.
Ideler, in his
Handbuch der Chronologie, has given the
following approximate duration of the natural days at Rome, in the year 45
B.C., which was the first after the new
regulation of the calendar by J. Caesar; the length of the days is only
marked at the eight principal points in the apparent course of the sun.
| Days of the
year. 45 B.C. |
Their duration in equinoctial hours.
|
| Dec. 23 |
8 hrs. 45
minutes. |
| Feb. 6 |
9 hrs. 50
minutes. |
| March 23 |
12 hrs. 0
minutes. |
| May 9 |
14 hrs. 10
minutes. |
| June 25 |
15 hrs. 6
minutes. |
| August 10 |
14 hrs. 10
minutes. |
| Sept. 25 |
12 hrs. 0
minutes. |
| Nov. 9 |
9 hrs. 50
minutes. |
The following table contains a comparison of the hours of a Roman natural
day, at the summer and winter solstice, with the hours of our day.
[p. 1.971]
|
SUMMER SOLSTICE.
|
|
Roman Hours.
|
|
Modern Hours.
|
| 1st hour |
4 o'clock, |
27 minutes |
0
seconds. |
| 2nd hour |
5 o'clock, |
42 minutes |
30
seconds. |
| 3rd hour |
6 o'clock, |
58 minutes |
0
seconds. |
| 4th hour |
8 o'clock, |
13 minutes |
30
seconds. |
| 5th hour |
9 o'clock, |
29 minutes |
0
seconds. |
| 6th hour |
10 o'clock, |
44 minutes |
30
seconds. |
| 7th hour |
12 o'clock, |
0 minutes |
0
seconds. |
| 8th hour |
1 o'clock, |
15 minutes |
30
seconds. |
| 9th hour |
2 o'clock, |
31 minutes |
0
seconds. |
| 10th hour |
3 o'clock, |
46 minutes |
30
seconds. |
| 11th hour |
5 o'clock, |
2 minutes |
0
seconds. |
| 12th hour |
6 o'clock, |
17 minutes |
30
seconds. |
| End of the
day |
7 o'clock, |
33 minutes |
0
seconds. |
|
WINTER SOLSTICE.
|
|
Roman Hours.
|
|
Modern Hours.
|
| 1st hour |
7 o'clock, |
33 minutes |
0
seconds. |
| 2nd hour |
8 o'clock, |
17 minutes |
30
seconds. |
| 3rd hour |
9 o'clock, |
2 minutes |
0
seconds. |
| 4th hour |
9 o'clock, |
46 minutes |
30
seconds. |
| 5th hour |
10 o'clock, |
31 minutes |
0
seconds. |
| 6th hour |
11 o'clock, |
15 minutes |
30
seconds. |
| 7th hour |
12 o'clock, |
0 minutes |
0
seconds. |
| 8th hour |
12 o'clock, |
44 minutes |
30
seconds. |
| 9th hour |
1 o'clock, |
29 minutes |
0
seconds. |
| 10th hour |
2 o'clock, |
13 minutes |
30
seconds. |
| 11th hour |
2 o'clock, |
58 minutes |
0
seconds. |
| 12th hour |
3 o'clock, |
42 minutes |
30
seconds. |
| End of the
day |
4 o'clock, |
27 minutes |
0
seconds. |
Also from Plautus (
Pseud. 1307) we see that an hour in winter
was shorter than one in summer.
The custom of dividing the natural day into twelve equal parts or hours
lasted, as we have observed, till a very late period. The first calendarium
in which we find the duration of day and night marked according to
equinoctial hours, is the Calendarium rusticum Farnesianum. (Ideler,
Handbuch der Chron. ii. p. 139, &c.; Graev.
Thesaur. Ant. Rom. viii.;
Mus. Borb. ii.
pl. 44.)
Another question which has often been discussed is whether in such
expressions as
prima, altera, tertia hora,
&c., we have to understand the hour which is passing, or that which
has already elapsed. From the construction of ancient sun-dials on which the
hours are marked by eleven lines, so that the first hour had elapsed when
the shadow of the gnomon fell upon the first line, it might seem as if
hora prima meant after the lapse of the
first hour. In Pers. 3.4,
quinta dum linea tangitur
umbra, the end of the fifth hour is clearly meant. But the
manner in which Martial (
4.8), when describing
the various purposes to which the hours of the day were devoted by the
Romans, speaks of the hours, leaves no doubt that the expressions
prima, altera, tertia hora, &c., mean the
hour which is passing, and not that which has already elapsed. Hence
hora nona cenare means to dine when the
ninth hour is beginning, i. e. about 2 P.M.
(Becker,
Gallus, ii.3 351=
Becker-Göll, 2.406 ff.; Mayor on
Plin. Ep.
3.1,
8.)
[
L.S] [
A.S.W]
