Quota hōra est? What time is it?
In certain instances, Latin and the Roman world are not an
exact science.
[1] Nobody in Ancient Rome ever said that a boat would
arrive at 4:27! The Roman day was a far more flexible affair because minutes
and seconds were not included in the calculation of time, the day being
divided into 12 hours of the day and 12 hours of the night. There was [i]
‘civil day’ (diēs cīvīlis) from midnight to midnight and [ii] a ‘natural
day’ (diēs nātūrālis) from sunrise to sunset.
[2] The Romans used ordinal numbers with hōra (hour)
to tell the time:
hōra prīma: first hour
hōra secunda: second hour
hōra tertia: third hour
etc.
[3] diēs nātūrālis: the natural day
sōlis ortus: sunrise
sōlis occāsus: sunset
Sunrise (sōlis ortus) and sunset (sōlis occāsus)
vary dependent upon the time of year. Therefore, hours were shortened (to about
45 minutes) or lengthened (to about 75 minutes) to compensate so that the hours
would always be aligned to the sunrise and sunset.
Posted is a comparison of the Roman hours and our times.
Note that these are approximate and simplified versions of
research which gives exact modern equivalents in minutes and seconds. You may
come across variations. You do not require such precision to express yourself –
nor did the Romans – but when you read a time in Classical Latin or you wish to
express a time yourself, then the table gives you an indication of what time
they’re talking about.
[4] The Romans used the terms: merīdiēs (mid-day)
and media nox (midnight). We see the former in: A.M.
(ante merīdiēm: before mid-day) and P.M. (post merīdiēm:
after mid-day).
[5] To express ‘at’ a certain time, the ablative of
time when is used.
hōrā secundā: at the
second hour
hōrā ūndecimā: at the eleventh hour
Quota hōra est? What time is it?
> Quotā hōrā domum redīs? At what
time do you go home?
That term “ablative of time when” is the standard phrase in
grammar; when a specific time is referred to the ablative is used. It’s also
used when being specific about other time periods e.g. in Winter
or in the year 1450 and so on; more on that later.
[6] You can approximate by using the preposition circa (around)
+ accusative case:
Circā hōram nōnam: around / about the
ninth hour
And you already know four prepositions which can also be
used with expressions of time:
[i] ante + accusative: before
[ii] post + accusative: after
[iii] ad + accusative: (here) until
ante hōram prīmam: before the first hour
post hōram septimam: after the seventh
hour
ad hōram quintam: until the fifth hour
[iv] ab + ablative: from
ab horā octavā: from the eighth hour
[7] diēī (of the day) may be added to the
times to clarify that it is daytime rather than night-time being referred to:
hōra dieī octāva: the eighth hour of the day
[8] The Roman day ends at the twelfth hour. Thereafter, the
hours are repeated, but noctis (of the night) was included:
hōra prīma noctis: first hour of the night
hōra secunda noctis: second hour of the night
[9] The night was divided into four “watches” (vigiliae)
each of three hours in length; the information is posted.
Look at the table for Summer and work out roughly when you
would do the following. How would you answer the questions?
- get up: Quotā hōrā māne surgis?
- have breakfast: Quotā hōrā ientāculum sūmis?
- leave the house: Quotā hōrā domō discēdis?
- have lunch: Quotā hōrā prandium sūmis?
- go home: Quotā hōrā domum redīs?
And here’s a good dramatic time from a witness statement:
Nōnum Kal. Septembrēs ¦ hōrā ferē septimā ¦
māter mea indicat eī adpārēre nūbem inūsitātā et magnitūdine et speciē.
"On the ninth day before the first of
September ¦ at almost the seventh hour, ¦ my
mother indicates to him that a cloud of unusual size and shape is
appearing."
What happened next? And check the modern equivalents to find
out at about what time it happened.
