City Traffic Laws

[Nathan Ross]

a more detailed approach to Roman time-keeping.

If you don't have a copy of Carcopino's book Daily Life in Ancient Rome then I can certainly recommend it. It's old now (written in the 1930s) and in places a little fusty, to say the least, but full of excellent information that seldom appears elsewhere. Paperback copies are available very cheaply.

Carcopino calculates that a midwinter hour of daylight lasts only 44 4/9 minutes, while the hours of night last 1 hour 15 5/9 minutes! At midsummer these durations are exactly reversed.

a desire to force everything into precise categories

This is quite common throughout the study of Roman history, I think!