View source for Nundinae

{{Short description|Rest days in the ancient Roman calendar}}
{{Distinguish||text=[[List of Roman birth and childhood deities#Dies lustricus|Nundina]], the goddess of Roman birthname ceremonies}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
[[File:Fasti Praenestini Massimo n2.jpg|thumb|A fragment of the ''[[Fasti Praenestini]]'' for the month of ''[[Aprilis]]'', showing its nundinal letters on the left side]]
[[File:Fasti Praenestini Massimo n1.jpg|thumb|The full remains of the ''[[Fasti Praenestini]]'']]
The '''nundinae''' ({{IPAc-en|n|ə|n|ˈ|d|ɪ|n|aɪ}}, {{IPAc-en|-|n|iː}}), sometimes [[anglicized]] to '''nundines''',<ref name=oed>{{citation |contribution=nundine, ''n.'' |title=Oxford English Dictionary |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press }}.</ref> were the market days of the ancient [[Roman calendar]], forming a kind of weekend including, for a certain period, rest from work for the ruling class ([[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patricians]]).{{sfnp|Schmitz|1842|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-XZqkmmiFWUC&pg=PA648 648]}}
The '''nundinal cycle''', '''market week''', or '''8-day week''' ({{langx|la|nundinum}}<ref name=heymickey>{{harvp|Michels|1967|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=FgTWCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA202 202]}}.</ref> or ''{{lang|la|internundinum}}''){{sfnp|Schmitz|1842}}{{sfnp|Struck|2009|loc=[http://www.classics.upenn.edu/myth/php/tools/dictionary.php?method=did&regexp=871 "Internundinum"]}} was the cycle of days preceding and including each nundinae. These were marked on [[fasti]] using {{nowrap|'''nundinal letters'''}} from A to H. The earliest form of the Roman calendar is sometimes said to have included exactly 38 such cycles, running for 304 days from [[March (Roman month)|March]] to [[December (Roman month)|December]] before an unorganized expanse of about 50 winter days. The lengths of the Republican and [[Julian calendar]]s, however, were not evenly divisible by 8; under these systems, the nundinae fell on a different letter each year. These letters formed the basis of the later Christian [[dominical letters]].
{{anchor|Etymology|Names}}
==Name==
The name ''{{lang|la|[[wikt:nundina#Latin|nūndinae]]}}'' ({{IPA|la|ˈnuːn.dɪ.nae̯|lang}}) was apparently formed from an early form of ''{{lang|la|[[wikt:nonus#Latin|nōnus]]}}'' ("ninth") and ''{{lang|la|-din-}}'' ("day"),<ref name=oed/>{{efn|The equivalent etymology from ''{{lang|la|[[wikt:novem#Latin|novem]]}}'' ("nine") and ''{{lang|la|diēs}}'' ("day") is given by Festus.{{sfnp|Festus|loc="Nundinalem Cocum"}}}} a root related to ''{{lang|la|[[wikt:dies#Latin|diēs]]}}'' and ultimately the [[Proto-Indo-European]] root [[linguistic reconstruction|reconstructed]] as [[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/dyew-|*''dyew-'']] ("to shine"). It is now glossed as an [[adjective]] modifying an understood ''{{lang|la|[[feriae]]}}'' ("festival; holiday"),<ref name=oed/>{{refn|[[Cornelius Labeo]],{{sfnp|Corn. Labeo|loc=''Fastorum Libri'', Book I}} cited in [[Macrobius]].{{sfnp|Macrobius|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Macrobius/Saturnalia/1*.html#16 Book I, Ch. xvi, §29]}}{{sfnp|Kaster|2011|p=201}}}} but not all Romans considered it to be one: a writer named Titius listed the nundinae as a "customary occasion" (''{{lang|la|sollemnes}}''){{sfnp|Macrobius|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Macrobius/Saturnalia/1*.html#16 Book I, Ch. xvi, §28]}}{{sfnp|Kaster|2011|p=199}} and the [[College of Pontiffs|Roman pontiffs]] themselves told the [[augur]] Messala that they did not consider the [[nones (calendar)|nones]] or nundinae to be religious occasions.{{refn|[[Julius Modestus]],{{sfnp|Julius Modestus|loc=''Quaestiones Confusae''}} cited in [[Macrobius]].{{sfnp|Macrobius|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Macrobius/Saturnalia/1*.html#16 Book I, Ch. xvi, §28]}}{{sfnp|Kaster|2011|p=199}}}} Like ''{{lang|la|feriae}}'' and the names of most other recurring days of the Roman calendar, ''{{lang|la|nundinae}}'' [[Pluralia tantum|always appeared as a plural]] in [[classical Latin]], even in references to a single day.{{sfnp|Kennedy|1879|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=tVruAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA126 126]}} The English form "nundine", following [[Middle French|French]] ''{{lang|fr|nundines}}'', similarly appeared only as a plural at first, although it is now used in the singular number for individual days.<ref name=oed/> In Roman [[inscription]]s, the word was abbreviated {{sc|nvn}}.{{sfnp|Ker|2010|pp=382}}
The form ''{{lang|la|nundinum}}'' for the span between the nundinae seems to have been standard in early Latin,<ref name=heymickey/> but only appears in compounds (''{{lang|la|internundinum}}'', ''{{lang|la|trinundinum}}'', &c.) and phrases (''{{lang|la|inter nundinum}}'') in the classical period.{{sfnp|Schmitz|1842}}
The name of the 8-day cycle is based upon the Latin word for "nine" because the Romans tended to count dates [[inclusive counting|inclusively]]. Each nundinae was thought to follow the next after a 9-day interval because the first day was included in the count.{{sfnp|Schmitz|1842}}
==History==
[[File:Roman-calendar.png|thumb|upright=1.15|The reconstructed ''[[Fasti Antiates]]'', giving the nundinal days to the left of its day list]]
[[File:Roman Calendar.png|thumb|upright=1.15|The [[Roman calendar]] as given by the ''[[Fasti Antiates]]'']]
[[File:Fasti Antiates maiores - zoom.jpg|thumb|A section of the remains of the ''[[Fasti Praenestini]]'']]
The [[Etruscans]] also celebrated an 8-day week which may have been the basis of the Roman system. They supposedly used each day for royal audiences and councils with their various kings.{{sfnp|Macrobius|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Macrobius/Saturnalia/1*.html#15 Book I, Ch. xv, §13]}}{{sfnp|Kaster|2011|p=181}} According to [[Macrobius]], the people of the Roman countryside were first obliged to gather in the city on the [[nones (calendar)|nones]] of each month, about a week after the [[new moon]], to hear from the king or [[Rex Sacrorum|his equivalent]] what the [[Roman festivals|holy days]] would be and what they were to do over the course of the coming month.{{sfnp|Macrobius|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Macrobius/Saturnalia/1*.html#15 Book I, Ch. xv, §12]}}{{sfnp|Kaster|2011|p=181}} The regular nundinae were credited by [[Roman legend]] variously to [[Romulus]]{{sfnp|Dion. Hal.|loc=Book II, Ch. xxviii, §3}}<ref name=carryme>{{harvp|Cary|1937 |loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Dionysius_of_Halicarnassus/2A*.html#28 Vol. I, p. 395]}}.</ref> when he ruled jointly with [[Titus Tatius]] and first established Rome's religious observances,{{refn|[[Sempronius Tuditanus|Tuditanus]], cited by [[Macrobius]].{{sfnp|Macrobius|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Macrobius/Saturnalia/1*.html#16 Book I, Ch. xvi, §32]}}{{sfnp|Kaster|2011|p=201}}}} to [[Servius Tullius]] when he aimed to improve commerce in the town,{{refn|[[Lucius Cassius Hemina|Cassius Hemina]], cited by [[Macrobius]].{{sfnp|Macrobius|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Macrobius/Saturnalia/1*.html#16 Book I, Ch. xvi, §33]}}{{sfnp|Kaster|2011|p=201}}}} or to the [[plebeians]] when they began to gather after the [[expulsion of Tarquin]] to offer [[sacrifice]]s to Servius Tullius.{{refn|[[Geminus]] and [[Marcus Terentius Varro|Varro]],{{sfnp|Varro|loc=Book XVI, §7}} cited by [[Macrobius]].{{sfnp|Macrobius|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Macrobius/Saturnalia/1*.html#16 Book I, Ch. xvi, §33]}}{{sfnp|Kaster|2011|pp=201–2}}}} Macrobius relates that the prohibition against the nundinae occurring on months' [[nones (calendar)|nones]] arose out of concern that these plebeians visiting the city would cause trouble out of remembrance of the popular [[Servius Tullius]], since it was supposedly generally known that his birthday fell on one of the nones but it was uncertain which.{{sfnp|Macrobius|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Macrobius/Saturnalia/1*.html#13 Vol. I, Ch. xiii, §18]}}{{sfnp|Kaster|2011|p=163}}
All patrician business was originally suspended during the nundinae but it seems to have been ''{{lang|la|fasti}}'' by the time of the [[Twelve Tables]]{{sfnp|Schmitz|1842}}{{sfnp|Gellius|loc=xx, l, §49}} and, among its provisions, the [[Hortensian Law]] (''{{lang|la|Lex Hortensia}}'') of 287{{nbsp}}BC permitted their use for most legal and business purposes.{{refn|[[Granius Licinianus|Granius]],{{sfnp|Granius|loc=''Hist.'', Book II}} cited by [[Macrobius]].{{sfnp|Macrobius|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Macrobius/Saturnalia/1*.html#16 Book I, Ch. xvi, §30]}}{{sfnp|Kaster|2011|p=201}}}} Dates otherwise permitted for public assemblies (''{{lang|la|dies comitialis}}'') were still downgraded if a nundinae occurred on them.<ref name=homestruck/>
The theoretical proscriptions concerning the nundinae were not always observed. The [[Revolt of Lepidus|rebellion]] of [[Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (consul 78 BC)|M. Aemilius Lepidus]] in 78{{nbsp}}BC was later remembered as an example of the pernicious effects of having the nundinae occur on the [[January kalends]];{{sfnp|Macrobius|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Macrobius/Saturnalia/1*.html#13 Book I, Ch. xiii, §17]}}{{sfnp|Kaster|2011|p=163}} the New Year was allowed to coincide with a market again in 52{{nbsp}}BC.<ref name=hollaholla>{{harvp|Holleran|2012|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=oO7NwmbyxwAC&pg=PA186 186]}}.</ref> [[Cicero]] complains in one of his letters about a ''{{lang|la|contio}}'' being held in the [[Circus Flaminius]] despite the nundinae.{{sfnp|Cicero, ''Epistulae ad Atticum''|loc=Book I, Ep. xiv, §1}} Following the 46{{nbsp}}BC [[Julian reform]] of the calendar, the inalterable nature of its [[leap day]] intercalation meant that the nundinae began to fall upon the supposedly unlucky days of 1 January and the [[nones (calendar)|nones]] of each month.{{sfnp|Schmitz|1842}}{{sfnp|Graev.|loc=''Thesaur''., viii, p. 7}} Early on in the Julian calendar, though, the strength of this superstition caused the priests to insert an extra day as under the former system; it was accommodated by removing another day sometime later in the year; this seems to have occurred in 40{{nbsp}}BC{{sfnp|Cass. Dio|loc=Book XLVIII, Ch. xxxiii}} and AD{{nbsp}}44.<ref name=hollaholla/>
The nundinae of the late Republic and early Empire were possibly centered on the [[Circus Flaminius]].{{sfnp|Holleran|2012|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=oO7NwmbyxwAC&pg=PA53 53]}} [[Augustus]] supposedly avoided new undertakings on the days after nundinae (''{{lang|la|postridie nundinas}}''),{{sfnp|Suetonius|loc=''Aug'', Ch. 92, §2}} owing either to superstitions concerning homophones of ''{{lang|la|non}}'' ("no, not") or analogy with the treatment of the days following [[kalends]], [[nones (calendar)|nones]], and [[Ides (calendar)|ides]].{{sfnp|Ker|2010|pp=381–2}}
The [[week|7-day week]] first came into use in [[Roman Italy|Italy]] during the early imperial period.{{sfnp|Brind'Amour|1983|pp=256–275}} For a time, both systems were used together, but the nundinae are seldom mentioned in extant sources after the [[Julio-Claudian dynasty|Julio-Claudian period]].<ref name=hollaholla/> The nundinal cycle had probably fallen out of use by the time [[Constantine the Great|Constantine]] adopted the [[Hebrew calendar#Weeks|Hebrew weeks]] for official use in AD{{nbsp}}321, altering the [[Shabbat|day of rest]] by declaring the [[Lord's day]] the [[Sunday|Day of the Sun]] ({{lang|la|dies Solis}}) a legal holiday. Different scholars have placed the end of 8-day markets at various dates from the late 1st to early 5th centuries.{{sfnp|Ker|2010|p=364}}
==Observance==
The nundinal cycle formed a rhythm within quotidian Roman life. Farmers and craftsmen from Rome's hinterland would rest from work on the nundinae to visit the city,<ref name=homestruck>{{harvp|Struck|2009|loc=[http://www.classics.upenn.edu/myth/php/tools/dictionary.php?method=did&regexp=578 "Nundinae"]}}.</ref> selling groceries and supplies which the Romans or [[slavery in ancient Rome|their slaves]] would purchase for the next eight days. Auctions were held.{{sfnp|Benefiel|2016|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=bChcCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA443 443]}} Children and adolescents were exempted from [[education in ancient Rome|school]].<ref name=homestruck/> It was a time of public merrymaking and Roman farming and slave manuals included stern warnings about permitting the ''{{lang|la|vilicus}}'', an enslaved overseer, too much free time during the visit to town lest he get caught up in mischief.{{sfnp|Francese|2007}} The [[Christian church|church]] authorities later issued similar admonitions concerning its clerics, priests, and bishops.{{sfnp|Francese|2007}} Nundinae were used for dinner parties and [[town crier|public announcements]],<ref name=homestruck/> especially of coming assemblies and legislation. Later writers praising early Rome's rusticity and spartanness claimed that its farmers would busy themselves with labor during the week and only groom{{sfnp|Varro, ''Saturarum''|loc=Book l, l. 186}} and fully bathe{{sfnp|Seneca|loc=''Ad Luc.'', Ep. 86, §12}} on the nundinae.{{sfnp|Ker|2010|p=369–370}} [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] describes the superstition, "religiously believed by many", that trimming one's [[fingernail|nails]] silently during the nundinae or doing so beginning with the [[index finger]] provoked bad luck for one's finances.{{sfnp|Pliny|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Pliny_the_Elder/28*.html#28 ''Hist. Nat.'', Book XXVIII, Ch. v, §28]}}{{sfnp|Pliny|Bostock|1855|loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0137:book=28:chapter=5 Book XXVIII, Ch. v]}} The nundinae were not the only markets at Rome, though, as there were both daily markets (''{{lang|la|macella}}'') and periodic fairs (''{{lang|la|mercatus}}'').{{sfnp|Ker|2010|p=367}}
Under [[Kingdom of Rome|its monarchy]], Rome's nundinae were market days for the country [[plebeians]] and used as an occasion for the king to settle disputes among them.{{sfnp|Schmitz|1842}} Supposedly, retail trading was long restricted to foreigners or [[slavery in ancient Rome|slaves]] out of concern for its spiritual effects.{{sfnp|Dion. Hal.|loc=Book II, Ch. xxviii, §3}}<ref name=carryme/>
Under the [[Roman Republic|Republic]], the gatherings on the nundinae were overseen by the [[aedile]]s.{{sfnp|Ker|2010|p=370}} The days were originally ''{{lang|la|[[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#nefastus|diēs nefāstī]]}}'' upon which no [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patrician]] business could be conducted.{{sfnp|Schmitz|1842}} Plebeians, however, seem to have continued to use them as a time to settle disputes among themselves and to convene their own institutions.{{sfnp|Schmitz|1842}}{{sfnp|Dion. Hal.|loc=Book VII, Ch. lviii}}{{sfnp|Cary|1937|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Dionysius_of_Halicarnassus/7B*.html#58 Vol. IV, p. 317]}}{{sfnp|Festus|loc="Nundinas"}} This was emended somewhat by the [[Hortensian Law]] in the early {{nowrap|3rd century BC}}, which made [[plebiscite]]s binding on the whole population. If plebeian assemblies had previously been permitted on market days,{{sfnp|Ker|2010|pp=366–7}} any [[Legislative assemblies of the Roman Republic|public assemblies]]—including their informal sessions (''{{lang|la|contiones}}''){{sfnp|Ker|2010|p=366}}—were now positively banned.<ref name=homestruck/>{{refn|[[Julius Caesar|Caesar]],{{sfnp|Caesar|loc=''Auspices'', Book XVI}} cited in [[Macrobius]].{{sfnp|Macrobius|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Macrobius/Saturnalia/1*.html#16 Book I, Ch. xvi, §29]}}{{sfnp|Kaster|2011|p=201}}}} At the same time, these provisions meant that the nundinae now ''could'' be used for sessions of the [[Roman Senate|Senate]].{{sfnp|Ker|2010|p=366}} [[Gaius Trebatius Testa|Trebatius]] noted that officials could [[manumission|free slaves]] and render judgments on nundinae.{{refn|[[Gaius Trebatius Testa|Trebatius]],{{sfnp|Trebatius|loc=''De Religionibus''}} cited in [[Macrobius]].{{sfnp|Macrobius|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Macrobius/Saturnalia/1*.html#16 Book I, Ch. xvi, §28]}}{{sfnp|Kaster|2011|p=201}}}}
The nundinal cycles were an important pattern in the business of the [[Centuriate Assembly]]. All proposed legislation or official appointments were supposed to be publicly announced three weeks (''{{lang|la|trinundinum}}'') in advance.{{sfnp|Macrobius}}{{refn|[[Cicero]], in his speeches{{sfnp|Cicero, ''Philippicae''|loc=[http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/cicero/phil5.shtml#8 Book V, Ch. viii]}}{{sfnp|Yonge|1903|loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0021%3Aspeech%3D5%3Asection%3D8 Book V, Ch. viii]}}{{sfnp|Cicero, ''De Domo''|loc=[http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/cicero/domo.shtml#41 §41]}}{{sfnp|Yonge|1891|loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0020%3Atext%3DDom.%3Asection%3D45 §45]}} and letters.{{sfnp|Cicero, ''Epistulae ad Familiares''|loc=[http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/cicero/fam16.shtml Book XVI, Ep. 12]}}{{sfnp|Shuckburgh|1908|loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0022%3Atext%3DF%3Abook%3D16%3Aletter%3D12 Vol. II, Ep. cccxi]}}}}{{sfnp|Livy|loc=Book III, Ch. 35}} The [[tribunes of the plebs]] were obliged to conduct and conclude all of their business on the nundinae, such that if any motion was not carried by dusk it needed to be proposed and announced anew and discussed only after a further three-week period. This was occasionally exploited as a kind of [[filibuster]] by the [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patrician]]s and their [[client (Roman)|clients]].{{sfnp|Dion. Hal.|loc=Book IX, Ch. xli}}{{sfnp|Cary|1937|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Dionysius_of_Halicarnassus/9B*.html#41 Vol. VI, p. 59]}}
Although their religious nature was never very pronounced,{{sfnp|Francese|2007}} the nundinae were allegedly dedicated to [[Saturn (god)|Saturn]]{{sfnp|Plutarch|loc=Ch. 42}}{{sfnp|Babbitt|1936|p=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/Roman_Questions*/B.html#42 74]}} and [[Jupiter (god)|Jupiter]]. The [[flaminica]], the wife of [[flamen dialis|Rome's high priest of Jupiter]], offered a [[Sheep|ram]] to that god at each nundinae.{{refn|[[Granius Licinianus|Granius]],{{sfnp|Granius|loc=''Hist.'', Book II}} cited by [[Macrobius]].{{sfnp|Macrobius|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Macrobius/Saturnalia/1*.html#16 Book I, Ch. xvi, §30]}}{{sfnp|Kaster|2011|p=201}}}} Inscriptions have been discovered from cults to both Jupiter Nundinarius and Mercury Nundinator.{{sfnp|Ker|2010|p=363}} Superstitions arose about the ill [[luck]] when a nundinae would fall upon [[January Kalends|January&nbsp;1st]] or the [[nones (calendar)|nones]] of any [[Roman months|month]] and the [[pontifex maximus|pontiffs]] who controlled the calendar's [[Intercalation (timekeeping)|intercalation]] until the [[Julian reform]] took steps to avoid such coincidences,{{sfnp|Cass. Dio|loc=Book XL, Ch. xlvii}}{{sfnp|Cass. Dio|loc=Book XLVIII, Ch. xxxiii}} usually by making the year 354 instead of 355 days long by removing a day from February or the [[Mercedonius|intercalary month]].{{sfnp|Macrobius|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Macrobius/Saturnalia/1*.html#13 Book I, Ch. xiii, §19]}}{{sfnp|Kaster|2011|pp=163 & 165}} Since the nones were definitionally eight days before each [[ides (calendar)|ides]], this also had the unstated effect of avoiding nundinae on them as well.{{sfnp|Ker|2010|p=365}} [[Macrobius]]'s account of the origins of these superstitions is unsatisfying, however, and it is more likely that 1 January was avoided because its status as a general holiday was bad for business and the nones because of the ill luck attending their lack of a tutelary deity.{{sfnp|Ovid|loc=Book I, l. 58}}{{sfnp|Kline|2004|loc=[http://www.tkline.freeserve.co.uk/OvidFastiBkOne.htm Book I, Introduction]}}{{sfnp|Göttling|loc=''Gesch. der Röm. Staatstv.'', p. 183}}
==Outside Rome==
The 8-day nundinal cycle also seems to have been observed elsewhere in Italy, particularly [[Campania]], as attested in stone calendars and [[graffiti]], as at [[Pompeii]].{{sfnp|Snyder|1936}} There are records from the imperial period of towns and villas petitioning for the right to hold such markets (''{{lang|la|ius nundinarum}}'').{{sfnp|Ker|2010|p=377}} Such a right seems to have been universally granted to the capitals of Italy's prefectures (''{{lang|la|praefecturae}}'') but also extended to some smaller localities where markets were necessary for local trade.{{sfnp|Ker|2010|p=380}} These local fairs used the same calendrical system as Rome's, marking out the days of the year into cycles from A to H, but each town or village in an area typically used a separate day, permitting itinerant traders (''{{lang|la|circumforanei}}'') to attend each in turn.{{sfnp|Francese|2007}}
A pre-existing system of rural markets in North Africa's [[Maghreb]] was also glossed by the Romans as a system of nundinae, although it did not necessarily occur at eight-day intervals.{{sfnp|Ker|2010|p=377}} In the 3rd and 4th century, the annual fairs in [[Roman Mesopotamia|Mesopotamia]] were also known as nundinae.{{sfnp|Holleran|2012|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=oO7NwmbyxwAC&pg=PA184 184]}}
==Legacy==
The early Roman prejudice against commerce, especially the retail trade of the nundinal markets, means that the nundinae are usually referenced in negative contexts in [[Latin literature]], particularly for the buying and selling of things that should not be sold such as [[virginity]] and [[prostitution|love]], [[medicine|medical treatment]], [[education in ancient Rome|education]], [[political corruption|government]] and [[simony|church offices]] and [[corruption|favors]], and [[Roman law|judicial decisions]].{{sfnp|Francese|2007}} This bias endured into [[medieval Latin]], where ''{{lang|la|nundinatio}}'' ("marketing") without other qualification meant corruption, especially the purchase of judicial verdicts.{{sfnp|Francese|2007}}
Although nundinae are known to have been manipulated during the [[Roman Republic|late republican]] and [[Roman Empire|imperial period]],{{sfnp|Dion Cass.|loc=lx, 24}} moved a day forward or backward to avoid interference with a religious festival or important public assembly,{{efn|The details of such interference with the nundinal cycle are unclear but, e.g., it is thought that the nundinae were moved by a day if one occurred on [[Regifugium]], the festival celebrating the flight of the [[Tarquin the Proud|last Roman king]]. This could occur every three years.}} they are thought to have been absolutely fixed at eight days under the [[Roman Republic|republic]]. Scholars therefore use them when trying to find Julian or [[Gregorian calendar|Gregorian]] dates for events in Roman history.
==See also==
* [[Roman calendar]]
* Week & [[Eight-day week]]
* [[Day of the week]]
* [[Dominical letter]]s
* [[Runic calendar]]
==Notes==
{{Noteslist}}
==References==
{{wiktionary}}
===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}
===Bibliography===
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* {{citation |author=Seneca |author-link=Seneca the Younger |title=[[Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium]] |language=la}}.
* {{citation |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=William |contribution=Nu’ndinae |contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-XZqkmmiFWUC&pg=PA648 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-XZqkmmiFWUC&pg=PA648 648] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-XZqkmmiFWUC |title=A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities |location=London |date=1842 |publisher=Taylor & Walton |last=Schmitz |first=Leonhard }}.
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[[Category:Roman calendar]]