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In Roman timekeeping, a day was divided into periods according to the available technology. Initially, the day was divided into two parts: the ante meridiem (before noon) and the post meridiem (after noon). With the advent of the sundial circa 263 BC, the period of the natural day from sunrise to sunset was divided into twelve hours.[1]
An hour was defined as one twelfth of the daytime, or the time elapsed between sunset and sunrise. Since the duration varied with the seasons, this also meant that the length of the hour changed. Winter days being shorter, the hours were correspondingly shorter and longer in summer.[1] At Mediterranean latitude, one hour was about 45 minutes at the winter solstice, and 75 minutes at summer solstice.[2]
The Romans understood that as well as varying by season, the length of daytime depended on latitude.
The civil day (dies civilis) ran from midnight (media nox) to midnight.[3] The date of birth of children was given as this period.[4]
It was divided into the following parts:
The natural day (dies naturalis) ran from sunrise to sunset.[4]
The hours were numbered from one to twelve as hora prima, hora secunda, hora tertia, etc. To indicate that it is a day or night hour, Romans used expressions such as for example prima diei hora (first hour of the day), and prima noctis hora (first hour of the night).[5]
The Romans used various ancient timekeeping devices. Sundials were set up in public places,[2] beginning after one was imported from Sicily in 263 BC.[6] Sundials were used to calibrate water clocks.[7] The disadvantage of sundials, or shadow clocks, was that they worked only in sunshine and had to be recalibrated depending on the latitude and season.[8]
