Roman festivals


Festivals in ancient Rome were a very important part of Roman religious life during both the Republican and Imperial eras, and one of the primary features of the Roman calendar. Feriae were either public ' or private '. State holidays were celebrated by the Roman people and received public funding. Games , such as the Ludi Apollinares, were not technically feriae, but the days on which they were celebrated were dies festi, holidays in the modern sense of days off work. Although feriae were paid for by the state, ludi were often funded by wealthy individuals. Feriae privatae were holidays celebrated in honor of private individuals or by families. This article deals only with public holidays, including rites celebrated by the state priests of Rome at temples, as well as celebrations by neighborhoods, families, and friends held simultaneously throughout Rome.
Feriae publicae were of three kinds:
  • Stativae were annual holidays that held a fixed or stable date on the calendar.
  • Conceptivae were annual holidays that were moveable feasts ; the date was announced by the magistrates or priests who were responsible for them.
  • Imperativae were holidays held "on demand" when special celebrations or expiations were called for.
One of the most important sources for Roman holidays is Ovid's Fasti, an incomplete poem that describes and provides origins for festivals from January to June at the time of Augustus.

Keeping the ''feriae''

defined feriae as "days instituted for the sake of the gods." Religious rites were performed on the feriae, and public business was suspended. Even slaves were supposed to be given some form of rest. Cicero says specifically that people who were free should not engage in lawsuits and quarrels, and slaves should get a break from their labours. Agricultural writers recognized that some jobs on a farm might still need to be performed, and specified what these were. Some agricultural tasks not otherwise permitted could be carried out if an expiation were made in advance ', usually the sacrifice of a puppy. Within the city of Rome, the flamens and the priest known as the Rex sacrorum were not allowed even to see work done.
On a practical level, those who "inadvertently" worked could pay a fine or offer up a piaculum, usually a pig. Work considered vital either to the gods or preserving human life was excusable, according to some experts on religious law. Although Romans were required not to work, they were not required to take any religious action unless they were priests or had family rites ' to maintain.

List of festivals by month

Following is a month-by-month list of Roman festivals and games that had a fixed place on the calendar. For some, the date on which they were first established is recorded. A deity's festival often marks the anniversary of the founding of a temple, or a rededication after a major renovation. Festivals not named for deities are thought to be among the oldest on the calendar.
Some religious observances were monthly. The first day of the month was the Kalends. Each Kalends was sacred to Juno, and the Regina sacrorum marked the day by presiding over a sacrifice to the goddess. Originally a pontiff and the Rex sacrorum reported the sighting of the new moon, and the pontiff announced whether the Nones occurred on the 5th or 7th of that month. On the Nones, announcements were made regarding events to take place that month; with the exception of the Poplifugia, no major festivals were held before the Nones, though other ceremonies, such as anniversaries of temple dedications, might be carried out. The Ides were sacred to Jupiter. On each Ides, a white lamb was led along the Via Sacra to the Capitolium for sacrifice to Jupiter.
The list also includes other notable public religious events such as sacrifices and processions that were observed annually but are neither feriae nor dies natales. Unless otherwise noted, the calendar is that of H.H. Scullard, Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic.

[Ianuarius]

  • 1 : From 153 BC onward, consuls entered office on this date, accompanied by vota publica and the taking of auspices. Festivals were also held for the imported cult of Aesculapius and for the obscure god Vediovis.
  • 3-5: most common dates for Compitalia, a movable feast
  • 5 : Dies natalis of the shrine of Vica Pota on the Velian Hill
  • 9: Agonalia in honor of Janus, after whom the month January is named; first of at least four festivals named Agonalia throughout the year
  • 11 and 15: Carmentalia, with Juturna celebrated also on the 11th
  • 13
  • 24–26: most common dates for the Sementivae, a feriae conceptivae of sowing, perhaps also known as the Paganalia as celebrated by the pagi
  • 27: Dies natalis of the Temple of Castor and Pollux, or perhaps marking its rededication ; Ludi Castores celebrated at Ostia during the Imperial period

    [Februarius]

In the archaic Roman calendar, February was the last month of the year. The name derives from februa, "the means of purification, expiatory offerings." It marked a turn of season, with February 5 the official first day of spring bringing the renewal of agricultural activities after winter.
In the old Roman calendar, the mensis Martius was the first month of the year. It is one of the few months to be named for a god, Mars, whose festivals dominate the month.
  • 1 : the original New Year's Day when the sacred fire of Rome was renewed; the dancing armed priesthood of the Salii celebrated the Feriae Marti, which was also the dies natalis of Mars; also the Matronalia, in honor of Juno Lucina, Mars' mother
  • 7: a second festival for Vediovis
  • 9: a dies religiosus when the Salii carried the sacred shields around the city again
  • 14: the second Equirria, a Feriae Marti also called the Mamuralia or sacrum Mamurio
  • 15 : Feriae Iovi, sacred to Jove, and also the feast of the year goddess Anna Perenna
  • 16–17: the procession of the Argei
  • 17: Liberalia, in honour of Liber; also an Agonalia for Mars
  • 19: Quinquatrus, later expanded into a five-day holiday as Quinquatria, a Feriae Marti, but also a feast day for Minerva, possibly because her temple on the Aventine Hill was dedicated on this day
  • 23: Tubilustrium, purification of the trumpets.
  • 24: a day marked QRCF, when the Comitia Calata met to sanction wills
  • 25: Hilaria, A two-weeks long festival commemorating Cybele's lamentation of the death and rejoicing of at the resurrection of her mortal lover Attis.
  • 31: anniversary of the Temple of Luna on the Aventine

    [Aprilis]

A major feriae conceptivae in April was the Latin Festival.
The feriae conceptivae of this month was the Ambarvalia.
  • 1 : Games of Flora continue; sacrifice to Maia; anniversary of the Temple of Bona Dea on the Aventine; rites for the Lares Praestites, tutelaries of the city of Rome
  • 3: in the Imperial period, a last celebration for Flora, or the anniversary of one of her temples
  • 9, 11, 13: Lemuria, a festival of the dead with both public and household rites, possibly with a sacrifice to Mania on the 11th
  • 14: anniversary of the Temple of Mars Invictus ; a second procession of the Argei
  • 15 : Mercuralia, in honor of Mercury; Feriae of Jove
  • 21: one of four Agonalia, probably a third festival for Vediovis
  • 23: a second Tubilustrium; Feriae for Volcanus
  • 24: QRCF, following Tubilustrium as in March
  • 25: anniversary of the Temple of Fortuna Primigenia