Question for Roman History buffs...

[McKelly]

In preparing for VBS about Ancient Rome, it states that school always started on March 24th, but does not offer an explanation as to why. Is there some significance to this day that I am missing, or is just a day they picked out of nowhere. TIA! I would imagine there will be at least one child in the group that will want to know WHY!!

 

[Metro West]

I can't answer your question but it's funny you should mention Rome. I just watched "Engineering an Empire: Rome" yesterday.

That would be quite a subject to study!

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

I would guess it had something to do with the seasons as far as harvest time, etc. but I can't find a reason even though I tried looking it up. For anyone who wants a good laugh, I had originally guessed something about the flooding of the Nile...I was looking at Rome, looking up Rome, and still thinking about Egypt.

 

[bekkiz]

March was kind of a party month for the Romans. There were loads of festivals throughout the month. I've never heard of the school starting on the 24th, but I'd imagine it had something to do with the "day of rest" from all of the festivals.

(I found this website that sort of explains this: http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/romancalendars/a/FastiofMarch.htm)

Also, depending on when in Roman history you're talking about, March 24th was considered the last day of the year in the calendar created by Julius Caesar. Maybe that had something to do with it?

One of my favorite things about being a history teacher is not knowing all of the answers. In history, esp. ancient history, so much is open to interpretation. If someone asks the question, you should say you don't know, and ask them to think of why school starts on a particular day for them. What is special about that day? I bet most of them won't have any idea! Anyway, it could be a good discussion about how we don't know everything about the past, and it's important to make our own decisions.

 

[DebIreland]

According to this blog here http://www.deanstalk.net/sapienstribune/2008/03/index.html .... (Scroll to the heading ('Academic Asepsis')

".... next Monday, March 24, would be marking the beginning of a new academic year, in honor to Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom and knowledge....."

So it seems to be in honour of Minerva, which I think is another name for Athena, the Greek Goddess of Wisdom.