pridie kalendas februarias

• 1000 B.C. — temple of Hercules at Tyre completed (according to one ‘traditional’ reckoning)
• 817 B.C. — death of Anchises (according to the same reckoning)
• 36 B.C. — birth of Antonia (“Minor”), daughter of Marcus Antonius and Octavia and future mother of hope-to-be-emperor Germanicus and emperor-to-be Claudius
• c. 250 A.D. — martyrdom of Metras/Metranus in Alexandria
• c. 250 A.D. — martyrdom of Saturninus, Thrysus, and Victor in Alexandria

ante diem vi kalendas februarias

• 6 A.D. — dedication of the Temple of Castor and Pollux by the future emperor Tiberius
• 98 A.D. — death of Nerva (?)
• ca. 303 A.D. — martyrdom of Devota
• 1887 — birth of Carl Blegen, future excavator of Pylos (etc.)

ante diem vii kalendas februarias

• Sementivae or Paganalia (day ?) — Sementivae was a festival of sowing which was actually a moveable feast (although I’m not sure of the moveability criteria; I’m guessing that the first day falls between January 24 and 26). By Ovid’s time it appears to have been coincident with Paganalia, which also obviously has some rural aspect to it. It appears to have been a two-day festival with an interval of seven days between (corrections on this welcome … my sources seem muddled on this one)
• 66 A.D. — perihelion of what would eventually be called Halley’s comet (possibly mentioned in Josephus; less possibly mentioned in Suetonius)
• 97 A.D. — martyrdom of Timothy
• 1721 — death of Pierre Daniel Huet (editor of the Delphi Classics)

ante diem viii kalendas februarias

• Sementivae or Paganalia (day 2) — Sementivae was a festival of sowing which was actually a moveable feast (although I’m not sure of the moveability criteria; I’m guessing that the first day falls between January 24 and 26). By Ovid’s time it appears to have been coincident with Paganalia, which also obviously has some rural aspect to it. It appears to have been a two-day festival with an interval of seven days between (corrections on this welcome … my sources seem muddled on this one)
• 41 A.D. — recognition of Claudius as emperor by the senate
• 98 A.D. — death of Nerva (?)
• 275 A.D. — murder of Aurelian (according to one reckoning, which I don’t think is correct … comments welcome)