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PREFACE
PREFACE
A word of explanation seems needed about the form this book has taken. Many years ago I became specially interested in the old Roman religion, chiefly, I think, through studying Plutarch’s Quaestiones Romanae , at a time when bad eyesight was compelling me to abandon a project for an elaborate study of all Plutarch’s works. The ‘scrappy’ character not only of the Quaestiones , but of all the material for the study of Roman ritual, suited weak eyes better than the continual reading of Greek text;
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ABBREVIATIONS.
ABBREVIATIONS.
The following are the most important abbreviations which occur in the notes: C. I. L. stands for Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum . Where the volume is not indicated the reference is invariably to the second edition of that part of vol. i which contains the Fasti (Berlin, 1893). Marquardt or Marq. stands for the third volume of Marquardt’s Römische Staatsverwaltung , second edition, edited by Wissowa (Berlin, 1885). It is the sixth volume of the complete Handbuch der Römischen Alterthümer of Momms
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I. The Roman Method of Reckoning the Year.[1]
I. The Roman Method of Reckoning the Year.[1]
There are three ways in which the course of the year may be calculated. It can be reckoned— 1. By the revolution of the moon round the earth, twelve of which = 354 days, or a ring ( annus ), sufficiently near to the solar year to be a practicable system with modifications. 2. By the revolution of the earth round the sun i. e. 365-1/4 days; a system which needs periodical adjustments, as the odd quarter (or, more strictly, 5 hours 48 minutes 48 seconds) cannot of course be counted in each year. I
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II. Order of Months in the Year.
II. Order of Months in the Year.
That the Roman year originally began with March is certain [11] , not only from the evidence of the names of the months, which after June are reckoned as 5th (Quinctilis), 6th (Sextilis), and so on, but from the nature of the March festivals, as will be shown in treating of that month. In the character of the religious festivals there is a distinct break between February and March, and the operations both of nature and of man take a fresh turn at that point. Between the festivals of December and
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III. The Divisions of the Month.
III. The Divisions of the Month.
The Romans, with their usual conservatism, preserved the shell of the lunar system of reckoning long after the reality had disappeared. The month was at all times divided by the real or imaginary phases of the moon, though a week of eight days was introduced at an early period, and though the month was no longer a lunar one. The two certain points in a lunar month are the first appearance of the crescent [15] and the full moon; between these is the point when the moon reaches the first quarter,
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IV. The Days.
IV. The Days.
Every day in the Roman calendar has a certain mark attached to it, viz. the letters F, C, N, NP, EN, Q.R.C.F., Q.St.D.F., or FP. All of these have a religious significance, positive or negative. F, i. e. fas or fastus , means that on the day so marked civil and especially judicial business might be transacted without fear of divine displeasure [18] . Correctness in the time as well as place of all human actions was in the mind of the early Roman of the most vital importance; and the floating tra
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V. The Calendars still surviving.
V. The Calendars still surviving.
The basis of our knowledge of the old Roman religious year is to be found in the fragments of calendars which still survive. None of these indeed is older than the Julian era; and all but one are mere fragments. But from the fragments and the one almost perfect calendar we can infer the character of the earlier calendar with tolerable certainty. The calendar, as the Romans generally believed, was first published by Cnaeus Flavius, curule aedile, in 304 B.C. , who placed the fasti conspicuously i
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VI. The Calendar of the Republic and its Religious Festivals.
VI. The Calendar of the Republic and its Religious Festivals.
All the calendars still surviving belong, as we saw, to the early Empire, and represent the Fasti as revised by Julius. But what we have to do with is the calendar of the Republic. Can it be recovered from those we still possess? Fortunately this is quite an easy task, as Mommsen himself has pointed out [39] ; we can reconstruct for certain the so-called calendar of Numa as it existed throughout the Republican era. The following considerations must be borne in mind: 1. It is certain that Caesar
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MENSIS FEBRUARIUS
MENSIS FEBRUARIUS
The mensis Martius stands alone among the Roman months. Not only was it the first in matters both civil and religious down to the time of Julius Caesar, but it is more closely associated with a single deity than any other, and that deity the protector and ancestor of the legendary founder of the city. It bears too the name of the god, which is not the case with any other month except January; and it is less certain that January was named after Janus than that March was named after Mars. The cult
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Kal. Mart. (March 1). NP.
Kal. Mart. (March 1). NP.
FERIAE MARTI. (PRAEN.) N̄ MARTIS. (PHILOC.) IUN[O]NI LUCINAE E[S]QUILIIS QUOD EO DIE AEDES EI [DEDICA]TA EST PER MATRONAS QUAM VOVERAT ALBI[NIA] ... VEL UXOR ... SI PUERUM ... [AT]QUE IPSA[M].... (PRAEN.) This was the New Year’s day of the Roman religious calendar. From Macrobius [62] we learn that in his day the sacred fire of Vesta was now renewed, and fresh laurels fixed on the Regia, the Curiae, and the houses of the flamens; the custom therefore was kept up long after the first of March had
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Non. Mart. (March 7). F.
Non. Mart. (March 7). F.
... [VEDI]OVI. ARTIS VEDIOVIS INTER DUOS LUCOS. (PRAEN.) Various conjectures have been made for correcting this note. We may take it that the first word is rightly completed: some letters seem to have preceded it, and feriae has been suggested [98] , but not generally accepted. The next word, Artis , must be a slip of the stone-cutter. That it was not Martis we are sure, as Ovid says that there was no note in the Fasti for this day except on the cult of Vediovis [99] . Even Mommsen is in despair
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vii Id. Mart. (March 9). C.
vii Id. Mart. (March 9). C.
ARMA ANCILIA MOVENT. (PHILOC.) As we have seen, the first ‘moving’ of the ancilia was on the 1st. This is the second mentioned in the calendars; the third, according to Lydus (4. 42), was on the 23rd (Tubilustrium, q.v.). As the Salii seem to have danced with the shields all through the month up to the 24th [101] , it has been supposed that these were the three principal days of ‘moving’; and Mr. Marindin suggests that they correspond to the three most important mansiones Saliorum , of which two
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PRID. ID. MART. (MARCH 14). NP.
PRID. ID. MART. (MARCH 14). NP.
EQUIRR[IA]. ( MAFF. VAT. ESQ. ) FERIAE MARTI. (VAT.) SACRUM MAMURIO. (RUSTIC CALENDARS [103] .) MAMURALIA. (PHILOC.) These notes involve several difficulties. To begin with, this day is an even number, and there is no other instance in the calendar of a festival occurring on such a day. Wissowa [104] , usually a very cautious inquirer, here boldly cuts the knot by conjecturing that the Mars festival of this day had originally been on the next, i.e. the Ides, but was put back one day to enable th
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Id. Mart. (March 15). NP.
Id. Mart. (March 15). NP.
FERIAE [125] ANNAE PERENNAE VIA FLAM[INIA] AD LAPIDEM PRIM[UM]. (VAT.) ANNAE PER. (FARN.) This is a survival of an old popular festival, as is clearly seen from Ovid’s account of it; but the absence of any mention of it in the rustic calendars or in those of Philocalus and Silvius leads us to suppose that it had died out in the early Empire. This may be accounted for by the fact that the people came to be more and more attracted by spectacles and games; and also by the ever-increasing cosmopolit
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XVI Kal. Apr. (March 17). NP.
XVI Kal. Apr. (March 17). NP.
LIB[ERALIA]. ( MAFF. FARN. RUST. ) LIB. AG[ONIA]. LIBERO LIB. (CAER.) AG[ONIA]. (VAT.) LIBERO IN CA[PITOLIO]. (FARN.) This is one of the four days marked AG. or AGON. in the Fasti (Jan. 9, May 21, Dec. 11) [145] . It is curious that on this day two of the old calendars should mark the Liberalia only, and one the Agonia only, and one both. The day was generally known as Liberalia [146] ; the other name seems to have been known to the priests only, and more especially to the Salii Collini or Agone
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Kal. xiv Apr. (March 19). NP Caer. Vat. N. Maff.
Kal. xiv Apr. (March 19). NP Caer. Vat. N. Maff.
QUINQ[VATRUS]. (CAER. MAFF. PRAEN. VAT. FARN.) QUINQUATRIA. (RUST. PHIL. SILV.) A note is appended in Praen., which is thus completed by Mommsen with the help of a Verrian gloss (Fest. 254). [RECTIUS TAMEN ALII PUTARUNT DICTUM AB EO QUOD HIC DIES EST POST DIEM V IDUS. QUO]D IN LATIO POST [IDUS DIES SIMILI FERE RATIONE DECLI]NARENTUR. FERIAE MARTI (VAT.) [SALI] FACIUNT IN COMITIO SALTUS [ADSTANTIBUS PO]NTIFICIBUS ET TRIB[UNIS] CELER[UM]. Praen., in which we find yet another note: ARTIFICUM DIES [
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x Kal. Apr. (March 23). NP.
x Kal. Apr. (March 23). NP.
TUBILUST[RIUM]. (CAER. MAFF. VAT. FARN. MIN. III.) TUBILUSTRIUM. (PHILOC.) Note in Praen.: [FERIAE] MARTI [177] . HIC DIES APPELLATUR ITA, QUOD IN ATRIO SUTORIO TUBI LUSTRANTUR, QUIBUS IN SACRIS UTUNTUR. LUTATIUS QUIDEM CLAVAM EAM AIT ESSE IN RUINIS PALA[TI I]NCENSI A GALLIS REPERTAM, QUA ROMULUS URBEM INAUGURAVERIT....
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ix Kal. Apr. (March 24). NP.
ix Kal. Apr. (March 24). NP.
Q. R. C. F. ( VAT. CAER. ) Q. REX. C. F. ( MAFF. PRAEN. ) Note in Praen.: HUNC DIEM PLERIQUE PERPERAM INTERPRETANTES PUTANT APPELLAR[I] QUOD EO DIE EX COMITIO FUGERIT [REX: N]AM NEQUE TARQUINIUS ABIIT EX COMITIO [URBIS], ET ALIO QUOQUE MENSE EADEM SUNT [IDEMQUE S]IGNIFICANT. QU[ARE COMITIIS PERACTIS IUDICI]A FIERI INDICA[RI IIS MAGIS PUTAMUS] [178] . These two days must be taken in connexion with the 23rd and 24th of May, which are marked in the calendars in exactly the same way. The explanation
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Kal. Apr. (April 1). F.
Kal. Apr. (April 1). F.
VENERALIA: LUDI. (PHILOC.) Note in Praen.: ‘FREQUENTER MULIERES SUPPLICANT FORTUNAE VIRILI, HUMILIORES ETIAM IN BALINEIS, QUOD IN IIS EA PARTE CORPOR[IS] UTIQUE VIRI NUDANTUR, QUA FEMINARUM GRATIA DESIDERATUR.’ Lydus [193] seems to have been acquainted with this note of Verrius in the Fasti of Praeneste; if so, we may guess that some words have been omitted by the man who cut the inscription, and we should insert with Mommsen [194] , after ‘supplicant,’ the words ‘honestiores Veneri Verticordiae
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Prid. Non. Apr. (April 4). C.
Prid. Non. Apr. (April 4). C.
MATR[I] MAG[NAE]. (MAFF.) LUDI MEGALESIACI. (PHILOC.) Note in Praen.: LUDI M[ATRI] D[EUM] M[AGNAE] I[DAEAE]. MEGALESIA VOCANTUR QUOD EA DEA MEGALE APPELLATUR. NOBILIUM MUTITATIONES CENARUM SOLITAE SUNT FREQUENTER FIERI, QUOD MATER MAGNA EX LIBRIS SIBULLINIS ARCESSITA LOCUM MUTAVIT EX PHRYGIA ROMAM. The introduction of the Magna Mater Idaea into Rome can only be briefly mentioned here, as being more important for the history of religion at Rome than for that of the Roman religion. In B.C. 204, in
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XVII Kal. Mai. (April 15). NP.
XVII Kal. Mai. (April 15). NP.
FORD[ICIDIA] [215] . ( CAER. MAFF. VAT. PRAEN. ) This is beyond doubt one of the oldest sacrificial rites in the Roman religion. It consisted in the slaughter of pregnant cows ( hordae or fordae ), one in the Capitol and one in each of the thirty curiae [216] ; i. e. one for the state and the rest for each of its ancient divisions. This was the first festival of the curiae ; the other, the Fornacalia , will be treated of under February 17. The cows were offered, as all authorities agree, to Tell
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iii Id. Apr. (April 11). N.
iii Id. Apr. (April 11). N.
On this day [222] the oracle of the great temple of Fortuna Primigenia at Praeneste was open to suppliants, as we learn from a fragment of the Praenestine Fasti. Though not a Roman festival, the day deserves to be noticed here, as this oracle was by far the most renowned in Italy. The cult of Fortuna will be discussed under June 25 and Sept. 13. It does not seem to be known whether the oracle was open on these days only; see R. Peter in Myth. Lex. s. v. Fortuna, 1545....
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xiii Kal. Mai. (April 19). NP.
xiii Kal. Mai. (April 19). NP.
CER[IALIA]. ( CAER. MAFF. PRAEN. ESQ. ) CERERI LIBERO (LIBERAE) ESQ. Note: All the days from 12th to 19th are marked ludi, ludi Cer., or ludi Ceriales, in Tusc. Maff. Praen. Vat., taken together: loid. Cereri in Esq., where the 18th only is preserved: loedi C in Caer. Philocalus has Cerealici c. m. (circenses missus) xxiv on 12th and 19th. The origin of the ludi Cereales, properly so called, cannot be proved to be earlier than the Second Punic War. The games first appear as fully established in
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xi Kal. Mai. (Apr. 21). NP.[258]
xi Kal. Mai. (Apr. 21). NP.[258]
PAR[ILIA]. ( CAER. MAFF. PRAEN. ) ROMA COND[ITA] FERIAE CORONATIS OM[NIBUS]. (CAER.) N[ATALIS] URBIS. CIRCENSES MISSUS XXIV. (PHILOC.) [A note in Praen. is hopelessly mutilated, with the exception of the words IGNES and PRINCIPIO AN[NI PASTORICII [259] ?]] The Parilia [260] , at once one of the oldest and best attested festivals of the whole year, is at the same time the one whose features have been most clearly explained by the investigations of parallels among other races. The first point to n
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ix Kal. Mai. (Apr. 23). FP (CAER.) NP (MAFF.) F (PRAEN.)[290]
ix Kal. Mai. (Apr. 23). FP (CAER.) NP (MAFF.) F (PRAEN.)[290]
VEIN[ALIA] ( CAER .) VIN[ALIA] ( MAFF. PRAEN. ESQ. ) Praen. has a mutilated note beginning IO [ VI ], and ending with [CUM LATINI BELLO PREME]RENTUR A RUTULIS, QUIA MEZENTIUS REX ETRUS[CO]RUM PACISCEBATUR, SI SUBSIDIO VENISSET, OMNIUM ANNORUM VINI FRUCTUM . (Cp. Festus, 65 and 374, where it appears that libations of all new wine were made to Jupiter.) VENERI (CAER.) [V]EBERI ERUC. [EXTR]A PORTAM COLLIN[AM]. (ARV.) This day was generally known as Vinalia Priora, as distinguished from the Vinalia
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VII Kal. Mai. (April 25). NP.
VII Kal. Mai. (April 25). NP.
[ROB]IGALIA. ( CAER. ESQ. MAFF. PRAEN .) Note in Praen: FERIAE ROBIGO VIA CLAUDIA AD MILLIARIUM V NE ROBIGO FRUMENTIS NOCEAT. SACRIFICIUM ET LUDI CURSORIBUS MAIORIBUS MINORIBUSQUE FIUNT. FESTUS EST PUERORUM LENONIORUM, QUIA PROXIMUS SUPERIOR MERETRICUM EST. Robigo means red rust or mildew which attacks cereals when the ear is beginning to be formed [309] , and which is better known and more dreaded on the continent than with us. This destructive disease is not caused by the sun’s heat, as Pliny
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v Non. Mai. (May 3). C.
v Non. Mai. (May 3). C.
FLORAE (VEN.). On the intervening days were also ludi ( C. I. L. 317). Note in Praen. (Apr. 28): EODEM DIE AEDIS FLORAE, QUAE REBUS FLORESCENDIS PRAEEST, DEDICATA EST PROPTER STERILITATEM FRUGUM. This was not a very ancient festival and is not marked in the Calendars in those large letters which are believed to indicate extreme antiquity [328] . Its history seems to be as follows: in 238 B.C. in consequence of a dearth, the Sibylline Books were consulted, and games in honour of Flora were held f
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Feriae Latinae.
Feriae Latinae.
A brief account may be here given of the great Latin festival which usually in historical times took place in April. Though it was not held at Rome, but on the Alban Mount, it was under the direct supervision of the Roman state, and was in reality a Roman festival. The consuls on their entrance upon office on the Ides of March had to fix and announce the date of it [348] ; and when in 153 B.C. the day of entrance was changed to January 1, the date of the festival does not seem to have been chang
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Kal. Mai. (May 1.) F.
Kal. Mai. (May 1.) F.
LAR[IBUS]. (VEN.) L——. (ESQ.) This was the day on which, according to Ovid [371] , an altar and ‘parva signa’ had been erected to the Lares praestites. They were originally of great antiquity, but had fallen into decay in Ovid’s time: Ovid himself had apparently not seen the signa , though he looked for them; and no doubt he took from Varro the description he gives. They had the figure of a dog at their feet [373] , and, according to Plutarch, were clothed in dogs’ skins. Both Ovid and Plutarch
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III. Id. Mai. (May 13). N.
III. Id. Mai. (May 13). N.
The word Lemuria indicates clearly enough some kind of worship of the dead; but we know of no such public cult on these three days except from the calendars. What Ovid describes as taking place at this time is a private and domestic rite performed by the head of the household [407] ; and Ovid is our only informant in regard to details. In historical times the public festival of the dead was that of the dies parentales in February, ending with the Feralia on the 21st. How, then, is it that the th
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Id. Mai. (May 15). NP.
Id. Mai. (May 15). NP.
FER[IAE] IOVI. MERCUR[IO] MAIAE. (VENUS [426] .) MAIAE AD CIRC[UM] M[AXIMUM]. (CAER.) MERC[URIO]. (TUSC.) The very curious rite which took place on this day is not mentioned in the calendars; it belonged to those which, like the Paganalia, were publica indeed and pro populo , but represented the people as divided in certain groups rather than the State as a whole [427] . But its obvious antiquity, and the interesting questions which arise out of it, tempt me to treat it in detail, at the risk of
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xii Kal. Iun. (May 21). NP.
xii Kal. Iun. (May 21). NP.
AGON[IA] [476] . ( ESQ. CAER. VEN. MAFF. ) VEDIOVI. (VEN.) The other days sacred to Vediovis were January 1 and the Nones of March, from which latter day we postponed the consideration of this mysterious deity, in hopes of future enlightenment. But Vediovis is wrapped still, and always will be, in at least as profound an obscurity for us as he was for Varro and Ovid. We have but his name to go upon, and two or three indistinct traces of his cult. The name seems certainly to be Vediovis, i. e. ap
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x Kal. Iun. (May 23). NP.
x Kal. Iun. (May 23). NP.
TUBIL[USTRIUM]. (ESQ. CAER. VEN. MAFF.) FER[IAE] VOLCANO. (VEN. AMIT.) I have already explained [483] the view taken by Mommsen of the two pairs of days, March 23 and 24 and May 23 and 24, accepting his theory that the 24th in each month was the day on which wills could be made and witnessed in the Comitia calata, and that the 23rd in each month was the day on which the tubae were lustrated by which the assembly was summoned. But May 23 is also marked in two calendars as feriae Volcano ; and Ovi
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viii Kal. Iun. (May 25). C.
viii Kal. Iun. (May 25). C.
FORTUNAE P[UBLICAE] P[OPULI] R[OMANI] Q[UIRITIUM] IN COLLE QUIRIN[ALI]. (CAER.) FORTUNÆ PUBLICÆ P[OPULI] R[OMANI] IN COLL[E]. (ESQ.) FORTUNÆ PRIM[IGENIAE] IN COL[LE]. (VEN.) This was the dedication-day of one of three temples of Fortuna on the Quirinal; the place was known as ‘tres Fortunae [488] .’ The goddess in this case was Fortuna Primigenia, imported from Praeneste—of whom something will be said later on [489] . The temple was vowed after the Second Punic War in B.C. 204, and dedicated ten
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Kal. Iun. (May 29). C.
Kal. Iun. (May 29). C.
The Ambarvalia, originally a religious procession round the land of the early Roman community, the object of which was to purify the crops from evil influences, does not appear in the Julian calendars, not being feriae stativae ; but it is indicated in the later rustic calendars by the words, Segetes lustrantur . Its date may be taken as May 29 [491] : and this fixity will not appear incompatible with its character as a sacrum conceptivum , if we accept Mommsen’s explanation of the way in which
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Kal. Iun. (June 1). N.
Kal. Iun. (June 1). N.
IUNONI MONETAE (VEN.) FABARICI C[IRCENSES] M[ISSUS]. (PHILOC.) On the name of the mensis Junius some remarks have already been made under May 1. There is no sure ground for connecting it with Juno [505] . The first day of June was sacred to her, but so were all Kalends; and if this was also the dies natalis of the temple of Juno Moneta in arce , we have no reason to suppose the choice of day to be specially significant [506] . We know the date of this dedication; it was in 344 B.C. and in conseq
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III. Non. Iun. (June 3). C.
III. Non. Iun. (June 3). C.
BELLONÆ IN CIRC[O] FLAM[INIO]. (VEN.) This temple was vowed by the Consul Ap. Claudius in an Etruscan war [536] (296 B.C. ): the date of dedication is unknown. In front of the temple was an area of which the truly Roman story is told [537] , that being unable to declare war with Pyrrhus with the orthodox ritual of the fetiales , as he had no land in Italy into which they could throw the challenging spear [538] , they caught a Pyrrhan soldier and made him buy this spot to suit their purpose. Here
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Prid. Non. Iun. (June 4). C.
Prid. Non. Iun. (June 4). C.
HERC[ULI] MAGN[O] CUSTO[DI]. (VEN.) SACRUM HERCULI. (RUST.) This temple also was near the Circus Flaminius [542] . It was a foundation of Sulla’s, 82 B.C. , and the cult was Greek, answering to that of Ἡρακλῆς ἀλεξίκακος [543] ....
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Non. Iun. (June 5). N.[544]
Non. Iun. (June 5). N.[544]
DIO FIDIO IN COLLE. (VEN.) The temple on the Quirinal of which this was the dies natalis is said by Dionysius [545] to have been vowed by Tarquinius Superbus, and dedicated by Sp. Postumius in B.C. 466. But that there was a fanum or sacellum of this deity on or near the same site at a much earlier time is almost certain; such a sacellum ‘ad portam Sanqualem’ is mentioned, also by Dionysius [546] , as ἱερὸν Διὸς Πιστίου, and we know that in many cases the final aedes or templum was a development
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vi Id. Iun. (June 8). N.
vi Id. Iun. (June 8). N.
MENTI IN CAPITOLIO. (VEN. MAFF. VI MINORES.) The temple of Mens was vowed by T. Otacilius (praetor) in 217 B.C. , after the battle of Trasimenus ‘propter neglegentiam caerimoniarum auspiciorumque [589] ,’ and dedicated in 215 B.C ., by the same man as duumvir aedibus dedicandis [590] . The vow was the result of an inspection of the Sibylline books, from which we might infer that the goddess was a stranger [591] . If so, who was she, and whence? Reasoning from the fact that in the same year, in t
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xvii Kal. Quinct. (June 15). Q. St. D. F.
xvii Kal. Quinct. (June 15). Q. St. D. F.
It would seem from these notes in the calendars, and from passages in Ovid and Festus [595] , that both before and after the day of the true Vestalia there were days set apart for the cult of the goddess, which were nefasti and also religiosi [596] . Ovid’s lines are worth quoting; he consults the Flaminica Dialis [597] about the marriage of his daughter: What is the meaning of this singular aspect of the Vesta-cult? Why should these days be so ill-omened or so sacred that during them marriages
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iii Id. Iun. (June 11). N.
iii Id. Iun. (June 11). N.
MAT[RALIA]. ( TUSC. VEN. MAFF. ) MATR[I] MATUTÆ. (VEN.) MATRALIA. (PHILOC.) The temple of which this day was apparently the dies natalis dated from the Veientine War, 396 B.C. , and was the result of a vow made by L. Furius Camillus [622] . An earlier temple was attributed to Servius Tullius; but it is extremely improbable that anything more than a sacellum or altar existed at such an early date [623] . The cult of Mater Matuta was widely extended in Italy, and clearly of genuine and ancient Ita
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Id. Iun. (June 13). NP.
Id. Iun. (June 13). NP.
FERIAE IOVI. (VEN.) IOVI. (TUSC.) To these notes in the calendars we may add a few lines from Ovid: All Ides, as we have seen, were sacred to Jupiter; they are so noted in the surviving calendars in May, June, August, September, October and November, and were probably originally so noted in all the months [643] . On this day the collegium or guild of the tibicines feasted in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus [644] . The temple referred to by Ovid of Jupiter Invictus as having been dedicated on t
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xii Kal. Iun. (June 20). C.
xii Kal. Iun. (June 20). C.
SUMMAN[O] AD CIRC[UM] MAXIM[UM]. (VEN. ESQ. AMIT.) To this note may be added that of Ovid [655] : The date of the foundation of the temple of Summanus was probably between 278 and 275 B.C. [656] ; the foundation was the result of the destruction by lightning, no doubt at night, of a figure of Jupiter on the Capitol [657] . Who was this Summanus? Ovid’s language, quisquis is est , shows that even in his time this god, like Semo Sancus, Soranus, and others, had been fairly shouldered out of the co
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viii Kal. Quinct. (June 24). C.
viii Kal. Quinct. (June 24). C.
FORTI FORTUNAE TRANS TIBER[IM] AD MILLIAR[IUM] PRIM[UM] ET SEXT[UM]. (AMIT.) FORTIS FORTUNAE. (VEN. PHILOC.) SACRUM FORTIS FORTUNAE. (RUST.) Ovid writes of this day as follows [665] : H. Peter, in his additional notes to Ovid’s Fasti [666] , has one so lucid on the subject of the temples of Fors Fortuna mentioned in this passage that I cannot do better than reproduce it. ‘We find three temples of the goddess mentioned, all of which lay on the further side of the Tiber. The first was that of Serv
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iii Non. Quinct. (July 5). NP.
iii Non. Quinct. (July 5). NP.
POPLIF[UGIA]. (MAFF. AMIT. ANT.) FERIAE IOVI. (AMIT.) The note ‘feriae Iovi’ in the calendar of Amiternum is confirmed in a curious way, by a statement of Dio Cassius [708] , who says that in B.C. 42 the Senate passed a decree that Caesar’s birthday should be celebrated on this day [709] , and that any one who refused to take part in the celebration should be ‘sacer Iovi et Divo Iulio.’ But we know far too little of the rites of this day to enable us to make even a guess at the meaning of its co
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Non. Quinct. (July 7). N.
Non. Quinct. (July 7). N.
This day does not appear as a festival in the old calendars; but the late one of Silvius [729] notes it as Ancillarum Feriae , or Feast of Handmaids, and adds the explanatory story which is found also in Plutarch and Macrobius [730] . The victorious Fidenates having demanded the surrender of the wives of the Romans, the latter made over to them their ancillae , dressed in their mistresses’ robes, by the advice of a certain Philotis, or Tutula [731] , one of the handmaids. Ausonius alludes to the
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viii Id. Quinct. (July 8). N.
viii Id. Quinct. (July 8). N.
‘Piso ait vitulam victoriam nominari, cuius rei hoc argumentum profert, quod postridio nonas Iulias re bene gesta, cum pridie populus a Tuscis in fugam versus sit (unde Populifugia vocantur), post victoriam certis sacrificiis fiat vitulatio [746] .’ I must be content with quoting this passage, and without comment; it will suffice to show that the meaning of the word ‘vitulatio’ was entirely unknown to Roman scholars. Why they should not have connected it with vitulus I know not: we may remember
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Prid. Non. Quinct.—iii Id. Quinct. (July 6-13).
Prid. Non. Quinct.—iii Id. Quinct. (July 6-13).
LUDI APOLLINARES. All these days are marked ‘ludi’ in Maff. Amit. Ant.; the 6th ‘ludi Apoll[ini],’ and the 13th ‘ludi in circo.’ These games [749] were instituted in 212 B.C. , for a single occasion only, at the most dangerous period of the war with Hannibal, when he had taken Tarentum and invaded Campania. Recourse was had to the Sibylline books and to the Italian oracles of Marcius, and the latter answered as follows [750] : ‘Hostes Romani si expellere voltis, vomicamque quae gentium venit lon
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xii Kal. Sext. (July 21). NP.
xii Kal. Sext. (July 21). NP.
Here, as in the next two festivals we have to consider, we are but ‘dipping buckets into empty wells.’ The ritual, and therefore the original meaning of this festival, is wholly lost to us, as indeed it was to the Romans of Varro’s time. Varro, in his list of festivals, does not even mention this one; but it is possible that some words have here dropped out of his text [764] . The only light we have comes at second-hand from Verrius Flaccus [765] . ‘Lucaria festa in luco colebant Romani, qui per
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x Kal. Sext. (July 23). NP.
x Kal. Sext. (July 23). NP.
NEPT[UNALIA]. (PINC. MAFF.) FERIAE NEPTUNO. (PINC. ALLIF.) The early history of Neptunus is a mystery, and we learn hardly anything about him from his festival. We know that it took place in the heat of summer, and that booths or huts made of the foliage of trees were used at it, to keep the sun off the worshippers—and that is all [777] . Neither of these facts suggests a sea-god, such as we are accustomed to see in Neptune; yet they are hardly strong enough to enable us to build on them any oth
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viii Kal. Sext. (July 25). NP.
viii Kal. Sext. (July 25). NP.
FURR[INALIA]. (PINC. ALLIF. MAFF.) FERIAE FURRINAE (PINC. ALLIF.) It seems to be the lesson of the festivals of July that there was an early stage of the Roman religion which had lost all meaning for the Romans themselves when they began to inquire into the history of their own religion. Of this last festival of the month we know no single item in the cult, and therefore have nothing substantial to guide us. It seems almost certain that even Varro and Verrius Flaccus [785] knew nothing of the fe
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Non. Sext. (Aug. 5). F. (NP. ant.)
Non. Sext. (Aug. 5). F. (NP. ant.)
SALUTI IN COLLE QUIRINALE SACRIFICIUM PUBLICUM. (VALL.) SALUTI IN COLLE. ( AMIT. ANT. ) NATALIS SALUTIS. (PHILOC.) The date of the foundation of the temple of Salus was 302 B.C. , during the Samnite wars [792] . The cult was probably not wholly new. The Augurium Salutis , which we know through its revival by Augustus, was an ancient religious performance at the beginning of each year, or at the accession of new consuls, which involved, first the ascertaining whether prayers would be acceptable t
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vi Id. Sext. (Aug. 9). F. (allip.) NP. (amit. maff. etc.)
vi Id. Sext. (Aug. 9). F. (allip.) NP. (amit. maff. etc.)
SOLI INDIGITI IN COLLE QUIRINALE. (AMIT. ALLIF.) SOL[IS] INDIGITIS IN COLLE QUIRINALE SACRIFICIUM PUBLICUM. (VALL.) There was an ancient worship of Sol on the Quirinal, which was believed to be of Sabine origin. A Solis pulvinar close to the temple of Quirinus is mentioned, and the Gens Aurelia was said to have had charge of the cult [800] . But the Sol of August 9 is called in the calendars Sol Indiges . What are we to understand by this word, which appears in the names Di Indigetes, Jupiter In
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Prid. Id. Sext. (Aug. 12). C.
Prid. Id. Sext. (Aug. 12). C.
HERCULI INVICTO AD CIRCUM MAXIM[UM]. (ALLIF. AMIT.) [ HERCULI MAGNO CUSTODI IN CIRCO FLAMIN[IO] (VALL.) is generally taken as a confusion with June 4 [805] .] This is the only day to which we can ascribe, on the evidence of the calendars, the yearly rites of the ara maxima , and of the aedes Herculis in the Forum boarium. These two shrines were close together; the former just at the entrance of the Circus maximus, the latter, as has been made clear by a long series of researches, a little to the
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Id. Sext. (Aug. 13). NP.
Id. Sext. (Aug. 13). NP.
FER[IAE] IOVI. (AMIT. ALLIF.) DIANAE IN AVENTINO. (AMIT. VALL. ANT. ALLIF.) SACRUM DEANAE. (RUST.) NATALIS DIANES. (PHILOC.) VORTUMNO IN AVENTINO. (AMIT. ALLIF.) HERC[ULI] INVICTO AD PORTAM TRIGEMINAM. (ALLIF.) CASTORI POLLUCI IN CIRCO FLAMINIO. (AMIT. ALLIF.) FLORAE AD C[IRCUM] MAXIMUM. (ALLIF.) All Ides, as we have seen, were sacred to Jupiter; and it does not seem that there is here any further significance in the note ‘feriae Iovi.’ Though there was a conjunction here of many cults, this day
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xvi Kal. Sept. (Aug. 17). NP.
xvi Kal. Sept. (Aug. 17). NP.
PORT[UNALIA]. ( MAFF. AMIT. VALL. ) TIBERINALIA. ( PHILOC. ) FERIAE PORTUNO. ( AMIT. ANT. ) PORTUNO AD PONTEM AEMILIUM. ( AMIT. VALL. ALLIF. ) IANO AD THEATRUM MARCELLI . ( VALL. ALLIF. ) Who was Portunus, and why was his festival in August? Why was it at the Pons Aemilius, and where was that bridge? Can any connexion be found between this and the other August rites? These questions cannot be answered satisfactorily; the scraps of evidence are too few and too doubtful. We have here to do with an
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xiv Kal. Sept. (Aug. 19). FP. (MAFF. AMIT.) F.
xiv Kal. Sept. (Aug. 19). FP. (MAFF. AMIT.) F.
( ANT. ALLIF. ) NP. ( VALL. [868] ) VIN[ALIA]. ( MAFF. VALL. AMIT. ETC. ) FERIAE IOVI. ( ALLIF. ) VENERI AD CIRCUM MAXIMUM. ( VALL. ) The ‘Aedes Veneris ad Circum Maximum’ alluded to in the Fasti Vallenses was dedicated in 295 B.C. , and the building was begun at the expense of certain matrons who were fined for adultery [869] . As has been already explained, no early connexion can be proved between Venus and wine or the vintage [870] ; though both August 19 and April 23, the days of the two Vin
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xii Kal. Sept. (Aug. 21). NP.
xii Kal. Sept. (Aug. 21). NP.
CONS[UALIA]. ( PINC. MAFF. VALL. ETC. ) CONSO IN AVENTINO SACRIFICIUM. ( VALL. ) There was a second festival of Consus on Dec. 15; but the note ‘Conso in Aventino’ there appears three days earlier, Dec. 12. The temple on the Aventine was a comparatively late foundation [880] ; but as the cult of this old god became gradually obscured, it seems to have been confused with the most ancient centre of Consus-worship, the underground altar in the Circus maximus, ‘ad primas metas’ [881] . It is with th
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x Kal. Sept. (Aug. 23). NP.
x Kal. Sept. (Aug. 23). NP.
VOLCANALIA. (PINC. MAFF. VALL. ETC.) VOLCANO IN CIRCO FLAMINIO. (VALL.) VOLCANO. (PINC.) (A mutilated fragment of the calendar of the Fratres Arvales gives QUIR[INO] IN COLLE, VOLK[ANO] IN COMIT[IO]. OPI OPIFERÆ IN ..., [NYMP]HIS(?) IN CAMPO). Of the cult of this day, apart from the extracts from the calendars, we know nothing, except that the heads of Roman families threw into the fire certain small fish with scales, which were to be had from the Tiber fishermen at the ‘area Volcani’ [897] . We
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ix Kal. Sept. (Aug. 24). Mundus Patet.
ix Kal. Sept. (Aug. 24). Mundus Patet.
This does not appear in the calendars. We learn from Festus [909] that on this day, on Oct. 5, and Nov. 8, the ‘mundus’ was open. This mundus was a round pit on the Palatine, the centre of Roma quadrata [910] —the concave hollow being perhaps supposed to correspond to the concave sky above [911] . It was closed, so it was popularly believed, by a ‘lapis manalis’ (Festus s. v.). When this was removed, on the three days there was supposed to be free egress for the denizens of the underworld [912]
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viii Kal. Sept. (Aug. 25). NP.
viii Kal. Sept. (Aug. 25). NP.
OPIC[ONSIVIA]. (ALLIF. MAFF. VALL.) OPICID. (PINC.) The last two letters must be a cutter’s error. Feriae Opi; Opi Consiv. in Regia. (Arv.) The last four words seem to belong to Aug. 26 (see Mommsen ad loc.). This festival follows that of Consus after an interval of three days; and Wissowa [915] has pointed out that in December the same interval occurs between the Consualia (15th) and the Opalia (19th). This and the epithet or cognomen Consiva, which is fully attested [916] , led him to fancy th
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vi Kal. Sept. (Aug. 27). NP.
vi Kal. Sept. (Aug. 27). NP.
VOLT[URNALIA]. ( ALLIF. MAFF. VALL. ) FERIAE VOLTURNO. (ARV. INTER ADDITA POSTERIORA.) VOLTURNO FLUMINI SACRIFICIUM. (VALL.) Of this very ancient and perhaps obsolete rite nothing seems to have been known to the later Latin scholars, or they did not think it worth comment. Varro mentions a Flamen Volturnalis, but tells us nothing about him. From the occurrence of the name for a river in Campania it may be guessed that the god in this case was a river also; and if so, it must be the Tiber. This i
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MENSIS SEPTEMBER.
MENSIS SEPTEMBER.
The Calendar of this month is almost a blank. Only the Kalends, Nones and Ides are marked in the large letters with which we have become familiar; no other festival is here associated with a special deity. But the greater part of the month is occupied with the ludi Romani (5th to 19th) [930] , and the 13th (Ides), as we know from two Calendars, was not only, like all Ides, sacred to Jupiter, but was distinguished as the day of the famous ‘epulum Jovis,’ and also as the dies natalis of the great
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Kal. Oct. (October 1). N.
Kal. Oct. (October 1). N.
[FIDEI] IN CAPITOLIO. TIGILL[O] SOROR[IO] AD COMPITUM ACILI. (ARV.) The sacrifice here indicated to Fides in the Capitol is clearly the one which Livy ascribes to Numa [1029] : ‘Et soli Fidei sollemne instituit. Ad id sacrarium flamines bigis, curru arcuato (i. e. ‘covered’) vehi iussit, manuque ad digitos usque involuta rem divinam facere: significantes fidem tutandam, sedemque eius etiam in dextris sacratam esse.’ Dionysius also mentions the foundation, without alluding to the peculiar ritual,
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3 Non. Oct. (October 5). C.
3 Non. Oct. (October 5). C.
This was one of the three days on which the mundus was open: see on August 24....
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Non. Oct. (October 7). F.
Non. Oct. (October 7). F.
IOVI FULGURI, IUNONI CURRITI [1044] IN CAMPO. (ARV. PAUL.) Of these worships in Rome nothing else is known. Iuno Curitis is the goddess of Falerii, whose supposed ἱερὸς γάμος was referred to above [1045] ....
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v Id. Oct. (October 11). NP.
v Id. Oct. (October 11). NP.
MEDITR[INALIA]. (SAB. MAFF. AMIT.) FERIAE IOVI. (AMIT.) This was the day on which the new wine was tasted. There is no real evidence of a goddess Meditrina. The account in Paulus is as follows: ‘Mos erat Latinis populis, quo die quis primum gustaret mustum, dicere ominis gratia “Vetus novum vinum bibo, veteri novo morbo medeor.” A quibus verbis etiam Meditrinae deae nomen conceptum, eiusque sacra Meditrinalia dicta sunt [1046] .’ Varro had already given the same account: ‘Octobri mense Meditrina
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iii Id. Oct. (October 13). NP.
iii Id. Oct. (October 13). NP.
FONT[INALIA]. ( SAB. MAFF. AMIT. MIN. IX. ) FERIAE FONTI. (AMIT.) All we know of this very ancient festival is contained in a few words of Varro [1048] : ‘Fontinalia a Fonte, quod is dies feriae eius; ab eo tum et in fontes coronas iaciunt et puteos coronant.’ The holiness of wells and springs is too familiar to need illustration here. The original object of the garlanding was probably to secure abundant water. It is generally assumed that there was a god Fons or Fontus, to whom this day was sac
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Id. Oct. (Oct. 15). NP.
Id. Oct. (Oct. 15). NP.
EQUUS AD NIXAS FIT. (PHILOC.) No calendar but the late one of Philocalus mentions the undoubtedly primitive rite of horse-sacrifice which took place on this day. Wissowa has tried to explain this difficulty, which meets us elsewhere in the Calendar, e. g. on the Ides of May (Argei), June 1 (festival of Carna) [1052] . Where two festivals fell on the same day, both would not be found in calendars which were meant for the use, not of the pontifices themselves, but of the unlearned vulgar; for the
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xiv Kal. Nov. (October 19). NP.
xiv Kal. Nov. (October 19). NP.
ARM[ILUSTRIUM]. ( ARV. SAB. MAFF. AMIT. ANT. ) The first three letters of this word, which alone appear in the calendars, are explained by Varro and Verrius: ‘Armilustrium ab eo quod in armilustrio armati sacra faciunt ... ab ludendo aut lustro, quod circumibant ludentes ancilibus armati [1091] .’ This passage may be taken as referring both to March 19 and Oct. 19, and as showing that the Salii with the sacred shields were active on both days. This can also be inferred from the fact that in 190
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Id. Nov. (Nov. 13). NP.
Id. Nov. (Nov. 13). NP.
FERONIAE IN CAMPO [1101] . ( ARV. , a later addition to the original.) FORTUNAE PRIMIGENIAE IN COLLE. ( ARV. , a later addition to the original.) This is the only mention we have of Feronia in Rome. She was a goddess of renown in Latium and central Italy, but never made her mark at Rome, as did others of her kind—Diana, Fortuna, Ceres, Flora—all of whom appear there with plebeian associations about them, as not belonging to the earliest patrician community [1102] . It is curious to find this Fer
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MENSIS DECEMBER
MENSIS DECEMBER
In the middle of winter, until well on in January, the Roman husbandman had comparatively little to do. Varro [1110] writes of sowing lilies, crocuses, &c., and of cleaning out ditches and pruning vines, and such light operations of the farm. Columella [1111] tells us that the autumn sowing should be ended by the beginning of December, though some sow beans in this month; and in this he agrees with the rustic calendars which mention, besides this operation, only the manuring of vineyards
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Non. Dec. (Dec. 5). F.
Non. Dec. (Dec. 5). F.
Here we have another festival unknown to the calendars, the Faunalia rustica, as it has been called. Our knowledge of it comes from the familiar ode of Horace (iii. 18), and from the comments of the scholiasts thereon: No picture could be choicer or neater than this; for once it is a treat to have our best evidence in the form of a perfect work of art. We are for a moment let into the heart and mind of ancient Italy, as they showed themselves on a winter holiday. There is an ancient altar—not a
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iii Id. Dec. (Dec. 11). NP.
iii Id. Dec. (Dec. 11). NP.
AG. IN.... ( AMIT. ). AG[ONIA] ( MAFF. PRAEN. ANT. ) SEPTIMONTIA (PHILOC.). SEPTIMONTIUM, GUID. SILV. [1153] For Agonia see on Jan. 9. This (Dec. 11) is the third day on which this mysterious word appears in the calendars. The AG. IN. of the Amiternian calendar was conjectured by Mommsen in the first edition of C. I. L. , vol. i, to indicate ‘Agonium Inui’ [1154] ; but in the new edition he withdraws this; ‘ab incertis coniecturis abstinebimus.’ This is done in deference to Wissowa, who has poin
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Prid. Id. Dec. (Dec. 12). EN. Conso in Aventin[o]. (Amit.) xviii (Ante Caes. xvi[1169]) Kal. Ian. (Dec. 15). NP.
Prid. Id. Dec. (Dec. 12). EN. Conso in Aventin[o]. (Amit.) xviii (Ante Caes. xvi[1169]) Kal. Ian. (Dec. 15). NP.
CONS[UALIA]. (MAFF. PRAEN. AMIT. ANT.) FERIAE CONSO (PRAEN. AMIT.) For these see on Aug. 21. If the conclusions there arrived at are sound we might guess that these winter rites of Consus arose from the habit of inspecting the condition of the corn-stores in mid-winter [1170] . It is this day that has the note attached to it in the Fasti Praenestini, ‘Equi et [muli floribus coronantur] quod in eius tu[tela] ... itaque rex equo [vectus?],’ which was commented on under Aug. 21. See also under Aug.
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xvi (Ante Caes. xiv[1171]) Kal. Ian. (Dec. 17). NP.
xvi (Ante Caes. xiv[1171]) Kal. Ian. (Dec. 17). NP.
SATURNALIA. ( MAFF. AMIT. GUID. RUST. PHILOC. ) FERIAE SATURNO. (MAFF. AMIT.) SATURN[O] AD FO[RUM]. (AMIT.) FERIAE SERVORUM. (SILV.) This was the original day of the Saturnalia [1172] , and, in a strictly religious sense, it was the only day. The festival, in the sense of a popular holiday, was extended by common usage to as much as seven days [1173] : Augustus limited it to three in respect of legal business, and the three were later increased to five [1174] . Probably no Roman festival is so w
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xiv (Ante Caes. xii) Kal. Dec. (Dec. 19). NP.
xiv (Ante Caes. xii) Kal. Dec. (Dec. 19). NP.
OPAL[IA]. ( MAFF. AMIT. ) FERIAE OPI: OPI AD FORUM. (AMIT.) For Ops see on Aug. 25, when the sacrifice was in the Regia, the significance of which I endeavoured to explain. Here it is ‘ad forum,’ which has lately aroused a little unfruitful dispute. Is the temple of Saturn meant, which was also described as ‘ad forum’ in the same calendar? This is still the view of Mommsen [1208] , who seems to hold the old opinion that there was a sacellum Opis attached to the aedes Saturni, or that this aedes
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xii (Ante Caes. x). Kal. Ian. (Dec. 21). NP.
xii (Ante Caes. x). Kal. Ian. (Dec. 21). NP.
DIVA[LIA]. ( MAFF. PRAEN .) Praen. adds a terribly mutilated note, which Mommsen thus fills up from stray hints in Varro, Pliny (following Verrius), and Macrobius [1212] : FERIAE DIVA[E ANGERONAE, QUAE AB ANGINAE MORBO] APPELL[ATUR, QUOD REMEDIA EIUS QUONDAM] PRAE[CEPIT. STATUERUNT EAM ORE OBLIGATO] IN AR[A VOLUPIAE, UT QUI NO]SSET N[OMEN] OCCUL[TUM URBIS, TACERET. S]UNT TAMEN, [QUI FIERI ID SACRU]M AIUNT OB AN[NUM NOVUM; MANI]FESTUM ESSE [ENIM PRINCIPIU]M [A]NNI NOV[I]. The date given by Pliny
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x (Ante Caes. VIII) Kal. Ian. (Dec. 23). NP.
x (Ante Caes. VIII) Kal. Ian. (Dec. 23). NP.
LAR[ENTALIA]. ( MAFF. PRAEN .) Here again Praen. has a valuable note, which, in this case, is fairly well preserved: FERIAE IOVI. ACCAE LARENTIAE. ... HANC ALII REMI ET ROM[ULI NUTRICEM ALII] MERETRICEM, HERCULIS SCORTUM [FUISSE DIC]UNT: PARENTARI EI PUBLICE, QUOD P[OPULUM] R[OMANUM] HE[REDEM FECE]RIT MAGNAE PECUNIAE, QUAM ACCEPE[RAT TESTAME]NTO TARUTILI AMATORIS SUI [1215] . As regards the feriae Iovi we are utterly in the dark. Macrobius explains it thus: ‘Iovique feriae consecratae, quod aest
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Kal. Ian. (Jan. 1). F.
Kal. Ian. (Jan. 1). F.
[AESCU]LAPIO, VEDIOVI IN INSULA. (PRAEN.) This temple of Vediovis was vowed by the praetor L. Furius Purpureo in 200 B.C. , and dedicated six years later [1223] . For this obscure deity see on May 21. The connexion between him and Aesculapius (if there were any) is unexplained. The latter was a much older inhabitant of the Tiber island (291 B.C. ), and became in time the special deity of that spot [1224] , which is called by Dionys. (5. 13) νῆσος εὐμεγέθης Ἀσκληπιοῦ ἱερά. Is it possible that an
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iii Non. Ian.-Non. Ian. (Jan. 3-5). C.
iii Non. Ian.-Non. Ian. (Jan. 3-5). C.
3 LUDI } LUDI } 4 LUDI }(PHILOC.) LUDI COMPITALES } (SILV.) 5 LUDI } (COMITALIS, MS.) The Compitalia were not feriae stativae until late in the Empire, and then perhaps only so by tradition [1230] . They took place at some date between the Saturnalia (Dec. 17) and Jan. 5; and we may infer from Philocalus and Silvius as quoted above that the tendency was to put them late in that period. Not being a great state-festival, they could be put between Kalends and Nones. The original meaning of compitum
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v Id. Ian. (Jan. 9). NP?
v Id. Ian. (Jan. 9). NP?
AGON. ( MAFF. PRAEN. ) A mutilated note in Praen. gives the word Agonium. It may be doubted whether the Roman scholars themselves knew for certain what was meant by AGON , and whether the explanations they give are anything better than guesses based on analogy [1241] . Ovid calls the day ‘dies agonalis’: and gives a number of amusing derivations which prove his entire ignorance. Festus [1242] gives Agonium as the name of the day (which agrees with Verrius in Fast. Praen.), and says that agonia w
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xviii Kal. Feb. (Jan. 15). NP.
xviii Kal. Feb. (Jan. 15). NP.
KAR[MENTALIA]. ( PRAEN. MAFF. PHIL. CAER. ) The full name of the festival is supplied by Philoc. and Silv. There is a much mutilated note in Praen. on Jan. 11 which is completed by Mommsen thus [1289] : ‘[Feriae Carmenti ... quae partus curat omniaque] futura; ob quam ca[usam in aede eius cavetur ab scorteis tanquam] omine morticino.’ The first point to be noticed here is that the same deity has two festival days, with an interval of three days between them. There is no exact parallel to this in
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Feriae Sementivae[1311]. Paganalia.
Feriae Sementivae[1311]. Paganalia.
Under date of Jan. 24-26, Ovid [1312] writes in charming verse of the feriae conceptivae called Sementivae (or -tinae), which from his account would seem to be identical with the so-called Paganalia [1313] . Just as the Compitalia of the city probably had its origin in the country (see on Jan. 3-5), though the rustic compita were almost unknown to the later Romans, so the festival of sowing was kept up in the city (‘a pontificibus dictus,’ Varro, L. L. 6. 26) as Sementinae, long after the Roman
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VI Kal. Feb. (Jan. 27). C.
VI Kal. Feb. (Jan. 27). C.
AEDIS [CASTORIS ET PO]LLUCIS DEDICA[TA EST ...]. (PRAEN.) Mommsen’s restoration of this note in the Fasti of Praeneste is based on Ov. Fast. 1. 705-8: But Livy [1322] gives the Ides of July as the day of dedication, and a difference of learned opinion has arisen [1323] . July 15, B.C. 496, is the traditional date of the battle of Lake Regillus, and the temple was dedicated B.C. 484—the result of the Consul’s vow in that battle [1324] . Mommsen infers that Livy confused the date of the dedication
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Kal. Feb. Iunoni Sospitae. N.
Kal. Feb. Iunoni Sospitae. N.
This was the dedication-day of a temple of the great Lanuvian goddess, Juno Sospita, in the Forum olitorium [1343] . It was vowed in the year 197 B.C. by the consul Cornelius Cethegus, but had fallen into decay in Ovid’s time [1344] . For the famous cult of this deity at Lanuvium, see Roscher, in Lex. s. v. Iuno, 595....
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Id. Feb. Fauno [i]n insul[a]. C. I. L. vi. 2302. NP.
Id. Feb. Fauno [i]n insul[a]. C. I. L. vi. 2302. NP.
This temple was vowed almost at the same time as the last, 296 B.C. , by plebeian aediles; it was built by fines exacted from holders of ager publicus who had not paid their rents [1345] . See under Dec. 5, p. 257....
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Fornicalia: feriae conceptivae, ending Feb. 17.
Fornicalia: feriae conceptivae, ending Feb. 17.
I have drawn attention to the change in the character of the festivals at this season. But before we go on to the Parentalia and Lupercalia, which chiefly mark this change, we have to consider one festival which seems to belong rather to the class which we found in December and January. This was the Fornacalia, or feast of ovens; one which does not appear in the calendars, as it was a moveable feast (conceptivae); and one which was a sacrum publicum only in the sense of being pro curiis, as the
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Id. Feb. (Feb. 13). NP.
Id. Feb. (Feb. 13). NP.
VIRGO VESTALIS PARENTAT. (PHIL.) PARENTATIO TUMULORUM INCIPIT. (SILV.) The dies parentales , or days of worshipping the dead (placandis Manibus), began at the sixth hour on this day, and continued either to the 21st (Feralia), or the 22nd (cara cognatio) [1368] . The parentatio of the Vestal was at the tomb of Tarpeia, herself a Vestal [1369] . Undoubtedly, the Feralia (21st) was the oldest and the best known of these days, and the only one which was a public festival: it appears in three calend
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XV. Kal. Mart. (Feb. 15). NP.
XV. Kal. Mart. (Feb. 15). NP.
LUPER(CALIA). ( CAER. MAFF. FARN. PHILOC. SILV. AND RUSTIC CALENDARS .) There is hardly another festival in the calendar so interesting and so well known as this. Owing to the singular interest attaching to its celebration in B.C. 44, only a month before Caesar’s death, we are unusually well informed as to its details; but these present great difficulties in interpretation, which the latest research has not altogether overcome [1387] . I shall content myself with describing it, and pointing out
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xiii Kal. Mart. (Feb. 17). NP.
xiii Kal. Mart. (Feb. 17). NP.
QUIR[INALIA]. ( CAER. MAFF. FARN. PHILOC. ) QUIRINO IN COLLE. (FARN. CAER.) How the festival of Quirinus came to be placed at this time I cannot explain: we know nothing of it, and cannot assume that it was of an expiatory character, like the Lupercalia preceding it, and the Feralia following. Of the temple ‘in colle’ we also know nothing [1448] that can help us. We have already learnt that this day was called ‘stultorum feriae,’ and why; but the conjunction of the last day of the sacra of the c
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vii Kal. Mart. (Feb. 23.) NP.
vii Kal. Mart. (Feb. 23.) NP.
TER[MINALIA]. ( CAER. MAFF. RUST. PHILOC. SILV. ) Was there any connexion between the Terminalia and the end of the year? The Roman scholars thought so; Varro [1465] writes, ‘Terminalia quod is dies anni extremus constitutus; duodecimus enim fuit Februarius, et quum intercalatur, inferiores quinque dies duodecimo demuntur mense.’ So Ovid, But Terminus is the god of the boundaries of land, and has nothing to do with time; and the Terminalia is not the last festival of the year in the oldest calen
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vi Kal. Mart. (Feb. 24). N.
vi Kal. Mart. (Feb. 24). N.
REGIF[UGIUM], ( CAER. MAFF. PHILOC. ) REGIFUGIUM, CUM TARQUINIUS SUPERBUS FERTUR AB URBE EXPULSUS . ( SILV. ) This note of Silvius is based on a very old and natural misapprehension. Ovid [1484] , and probably most Romans, believed that the expulsion of Tarquin was commemorated on this day. There is, however, strong indirect evidence to show that the ‘flight of the king’ on Feb. 24 was something very different. 1. We have already had a ‘flight of the people’ (Poplifugia) on July 5; and we saw th
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iii Kal. Mart. (Feb. 27). NP.
iii Kal. Mart. (Feb. 27). NP.
EQ[UIRRIA]. (MAFF. CAER. : cp. Varro, L. L. 6. 13). We have no data whatever for guessing why a horse-race should take place on the last day of February, or why there should be two days of racing, the second being March 14. This has not, however, prevented Huschke [1494] from making some marvellous conjectures, in which ingenuity and learning have been utterly thrown away. We saw [1495] that the oldest races of this kind were connected with harvest rejoicings; and Mannhardt [1496] suggested that
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CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
At the end of the introductory chapter a promise was made that when we had completed the round of the year, we would sum up our results, sketch in outline the history of Roman religious ideas, and estimate the influence of all this elaborate ceremonial on the life and character of the Roman people. This undertaking I must now endeavour to fulfil, though with doubt and diffidence; for even after the most careful examination of the Calendar, both the character and the history of the Roman religiou
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A. Denarius of P. Licinius Stolo (p. 42).
A. Denarius of P. Licinius Stolo (p. 42).
Obv. AVGVSTVS TR POT Augustus, laureate, on horse-back to r. Rev. P. STOLO Helmet (apex) between two shields. IIIVIR Coin. The forms of the helmet and shields are very archaic and interesting, appearing to point to a very early period. The helmet bears a marked likeness to that worn on Egyptian monuments by the Shardana, one of the races that invaded Egypt about the thirteenth century B.C. The shield seems to consist of two small round bosses connected by an oval boss. It is strikingly like the
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B. DENARIUS OF L. CAESIUS (p. 101).
B. DENARIUS OF L. CAESIUS (p. 101).
Obv. Youthful bust l., hair disordered, striking with thunderbolt. Behind, a monogram. Coin. Rev. L. CAESI Two young male figures seated to r. Each has drapery wrapped round waist, and grasps a spear. Between them, a dog, which one of them caresses. In field, in monograms, LARE Above, head of Vulcan and pinchers (moneyer’s mark). The monogram of the obverse was read by Mommsen AP for Apollo; but the closed P was not at that time in use: the interpretation of Montagu ( Numismatic Chronicle , 1895
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