Conclusion

In Rome, as elsewhere in the ancient world, formal timekeeping practices were deeply embedded in views about the proper relationship between political orders, the surrounding world, and the powers that governed them. Ancient polities were cultic communities, and central practices within them were aimed at securing the favor of gods who were linked in various ways to events in the visible world. Rites were the chief instruments for securing this favor, but they rested on rules, either written or oral, that were intended to ensure their proper performance. At a more fundamental level, however, were ideas and assumptions, some more coherent and explicit than others, about the ways that the world worked. Here, it was widely assumed that polities should function in some form of alignment with rhythms that were revealed in the heavens.