Nundĭnae
(Old Lat.
noundinae). The Roman term for the market day held on the
last day of the week of eight days, on which countrymen rested from labour and came to Rome to
buy and sell, as well as to do other business. Accordingly the Nundinae were used for public
announcements especially concerning public assemblies and the business to be conducted in
them. The actual holding of the assemblies on these days was avoided, so as not to prevent the
people from attending to the business of the market. Originally, too, no legal business was
conducted on them, and it was not till the beginning of the third century B.C. that it was
introduced. The Nundinae, though not a regular feast-day, were nevertheless celebrated in
private life by inviting strangers to one's table and exempting children from going to school.
The form
nundinum (sc.
tempus) or
inter nundinum means the whole period of eight days. In late Latin,
nundinium means the period of the consulship (Mommsen,
Staatsrecht, ii.
84; iii. 375). See
Dies.
