Decennalia (or Decennia, from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

''decennium'' - "tenth anniversary"; ''decem'', "ten" + ''annus'', "year") were

Ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–50 ...

festivals celebrated with games every ten years by the Roman emperors. The festival owed its origin to the fact that in

27 BC __NOTOC__ Year 27 BC was either a common year starting on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday or a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar (the sources differ, see leap year error for further information) ...

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

refused the supreme power offered to him for life but would consent to accepting power only for ten years. During the festival, he would surrender all of his authority to the hands of the people, who were filled with joy and, charmed with the goodness of Augustus, immediately delivered it back to him again. The memory was preserved to the last ages of the empire by ''Decennalia'', which was solemnised by subsequent emperors every tenth year of their reign, although they had received the imperium for life, not for the limited period of ten years. During the festival, the people offered up vows to the emperor, ''vota decennalia'', for the success and perpetuity of his empire. Roman coinage was specially modified during this time to indicate the undertaking of these vows, such as with the inscription VOTA SUSCEPTA DECENNALIA, or VOTIS X. From the time of

Antoninus Pius Antoninus Pius ( Latin: ''Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius''; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Born into a senatori ...

, we find these ceremonies marked on medals: PRIMI DECENNALES; SECVNDI DECENNALES; VOTA SOL. DECEN. II; VOTA SVSCEP. DECEN. III. These vows must have been made at the beginning of every tenth year, since on the medal of

Pertinax Publius Helvius Pertinax (; 1 August 126 – 28 March 193) was Roman emperor for the first three months of 193. He succeeded Commodus to become the first emperor during the tumultuous Year of the Five Emperors. Born the son of a freed slav ...

, who only reigned for 4 months in 193, there are the inscriptions VOTA DECENN. and VOTIS DECENNALIBVS. Burkhard Gotthelf Struve (1671–1738), in his ''Antiquitatum romanarum syntagma'' cap. IV, is of the opinion that these vows took the place of those the censors used to make in the times of the Republic for the prosperity and preservation thereof. In effect, they were not only made for the ruler, but also for the state, as may be observed from

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

, and

Pliny the Younger Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo (61 – c. 113), better known as Pliny the Younger (), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate ...

. Similarly Quinquenallia (from Latin quinquennium, five years) were celebrated every five years.

Decennalia base

Five-Columns Monument The Five-Columns monument is a dedicatory addition to the Rostra in the Roman Forum dating to the early fourth century CE. This monument was part of the Tetrarchy’s expansion of the Forum and is connected to the tenth anniversary of the ''Caesare ...

was constructed behind the

Rostra The rostra ( it, Rostri, links=no) was a large platform built in the city of Rome that stood during the republican and imperial periods. Speakers would stand on the rostra and face the north side of the comitium towards the senate house and de ...

in early 4th century and dedicated during Diocletian's visit to Rome in 303. This was one of the first major monuments to be erected in the

Roman Forum The Roman Forum, also known by its Latin name Forum Romanum ( it, Foro Romano), is a rectangular forum ( plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancie ...

since the reign of

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary suc ...

, which then ensued the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the

Tetrarchy The Tetrarchy was the system instituted by Roman emperor Diocletian in 293 AD to govern the ancient Roman Empire by dividing it between two emperors, the ''augusti'', and their juniors colleagues and designated successors, the '' caesares'' ...

(the rule of four emperors), instituted by Diocletian around 293 CE to 313. In 1547, a marble pedestal located near the

Via Sacra The Via Sacra (, "''Sacred Street''") was the main street of ancient Rome, leading from the top of the Capitoline Hill, through some of the most important religious sites of the Forum (where it is the widest street), to the Colosseum. The ro ...

was discovered . On this pedestal there are two chiseled winged victories who hold a shield on with an inscription that states CAESARUM DECENNALIA FELICITER, which translates to "Happy Tenth Anniversary of the Caesars." The other side of the marble base includes the sculpting of a sheep, bull, and pig, as well as other attendants. These animals were significant due to the fact that they were traditionally sacrificed to Mars. Another face of the monument depicts a procession of senators, as well as another side of the base which depicts a winged Victory flying to crown Caesar.

Other significant ancient Roman holidays

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References

Ancient Roman festivals {{festival-stub