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Equiria
The Equirria (also as ''Ecurria'', from ''*equicurria'', "horse races") were two ancient Roman festivals of chariot racing, or perhaps horseback racing, held in honor of the god Mars, one 27 February and the other 14 March. Site The Equirria took place in the Campus Martius outside the sacred boundary of Rome ''(pomerium)''. The exact course is debated: perhaps near the Altar of Mars in the campus; or on the Tarentum, the site of the ''ludi tarentini'', which became the Saecular Games; or the Trigarium. When the Tiber flooded, the Equirria were transferred to the ''Campus Martialis'' on the Caelian Hill, a field without permanent structures. On the calendar The Equirria were said to have been founded by Romulus, the son of Mars. Both appear on the oldest Roman calendars inscribed on stone. The Equirria are part of what Michael Lipka calls "temporal focalization" in the Roman conception of deity. The festivals of Mars—the 27 February Equirria, a ''feria'' on the Kalends of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mars (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Mars ( la, Mārs, ) was the god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was the son of Jupiter and Juno, and was pre-eminent among the Roman army's military gods. Most of his festivals were held in March, the month named for him ( Latin ''Martius''), and in October, which began the season for military campaigning and ended the season for farming. Under the influence of Greek culture, Mars was identified with the Greek god Ares,''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215. whose myths were reinterpreted in Roman literature and art under the name of Mars. The character and dignity of Mars differed in fundamental ways from that of his Greek counterpart, who is often treated with contempt and revulsion in Greek literature. Mars's altar in the Campus Martius, the area of Rome that took its name from him, was supposed to have been dedicated by Numa, the peace-lov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Romulus
Romulus () was the legendary foundation of Rome, founder and King of Rome, first king of Ancient Rome, Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Rome's oldest legal, political, religious, and social institutions to Romulus and his contemporaries. Although many of these traditions incorporate elements of folklore, and it is not clear to what extent a historical figure underlies the mythical Romulus, the events and institutions ascribed to him were central to the myths surrounding Rome's origins and cultural traditions. Traditional account The myths concerning Romulus involve several distinct episodes and figures, including the miraculous birth and youth of Romulus and his twin brother, Remus; Remus' murder and the founding of Rome; the Rape of the Sabine Women, and the subsequent war with the Sabines; a period of joint rule with Titus Tatius; the establishment of various Roman institutions; the death or apotheosis of Romulus, and the succession of Numa Pompil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anna Perenna
Anna Perenna was an old Roman deity of the circle or "ring" of the year, as indicated by the name (''per annum''). Festival Anna Perenna's festival fell on the Ides of March (March 15), which would have marked the first full moon in the year in the old lunar Roman calendar when March was reckoned as the first month of the year, and was held at the goddess' grove at the first milestone on the Via Flaminia. It was much frequented by the city ''plebs''. Macrobius records that offerings were made to her ''ut annare perannareque commode liceat'', i.e., "that the circle of the year may be completed happily" and that people sacrificed to her both publicly and privately. Johannes Lydus says that public sacrifice and prayers were offered to her to secure a healthy year. Ovid in his ''Fasti'' (3.523) provides a vivid description of her outdoor festival: Origin Ovid reports a legend that identifies Anna Perenna with the sister of Dido, the Carthaginian founder in Virgil's ''Aeneid''.Ovid. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ides (calendar)
The Roman calendar was the calendar used by the Roman Kingdom and Roman Republic. The term often includes the Julian calendar established by the reforms of the dictator Julius Caesar and emperor Augustus in the late 1stcenturyBC and sometimes includes any system dated by inclusive counting towards months' kalends, nones, and ides in the Roman manner. The term usually excludes the Alexandrian calendar of Roman Egypt, which continued the unique months of that land's former calendar; the Byzantine calendar of the later Roman Empire, which usually dated the Roman months in the simple count of the ancient Greek calendars; and the Gregorian calendar, which refined the Julian system to bring it into still closer alignment with the tropical year. Roman dates were counted inclusively forward to the next of three principal days: the first of the month (the kalends), a day shortly before the middle of the month (the ides), and eight days—nine, counting inclusively—before this (the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Whilst most solar calendars (like the Gregorian and Julian) begin the year regularly at or near the northern winter solstice, cultures that observe a lunisolar or lunar calendar celebrate their New Year (such as the Chinese New Year and the Islamic New Year) at less fixed points relative to the solar year. In pre-Christian Rome under the Julian calendar, the day was dedicated to Janus, god of gateways and beginnings, for whom January is also named. From Roman times until the middle of the 18th century, the new year was celebrated at various stages and in various parts of Christian Europe on 25 December, on 1 March, on 25 March and on the movable feast of Easter. In the present day, with most countries now using the Gregorian calendar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Georg Wissowa
Georg Otto August Wissowa (17 June 1859 – 11 May 1931) was a German classical philologist born in Neudorf, near Breslau. Education and career Wissowa studied classical philology under August Reifferscheid at the University of Breslau from 1876 to 1880, then furthered his studies in Munich under Heinrich Brunn, a leading authority on Roman antiquities. Having obtained his habilitation at the University of Breslau in 1882, he received a travel scholarship from the German Archaeological Institute and went to Italy for a year. After that he taught as ''Privatdozent'' in Breslau from 1883 to 1886, when he accepted a chair at the University of Marburg (as ''professor extraordinarius'') where he was awarded a full professorship in 1890. In 1895 he relocated to Halle as a successor to Heinrich Keil. After suffering two severe strokes in 1923, he was retired in 1924. Works Georg Wissowa is remembered today for re-edition of '' Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswisse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military Campaign
A military campaign is large-scale long-duration significant military strategy plan incorporating a series of interrelated military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war. The term derives from the plain of Campania, a place of annual wartime operations by the armies of the Roman Republic. Definition 1. A military campaign denotes the time during which a given military force conducts combat operations in a given area (often referred to as AO, area of operation). A military campaign may be executed by either a single Armed Service, or as a combined services campaign conducted by land, naval, air, cyber and space forces. 2. The purpose of a military campaign is to achieve a particular desired resolution of a military conflict as its strategic goal. This is constrained by resources, geography and/or season. A campaign is measured relative to the technology used by the belligerents to achieve goals, and while in the pre-industrial E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Armilustrium
In ancient Roman religion, the Armilustrium was a festival in honor of Mars, the god of war, celebrated on October 19. H.H. Scullard, ''Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic'' (Cornell University Press, 1981), p. 195. On this day the weapons of the soldiers were ritually purified and stored for winter. The army would be assembled and reviewed in the Circus Maximus, garlanded with flowers. The trumpets (''tubae'') would be played as part of the purification rites. The Romans gathered with their arms and armour on the Aventine Hill, and held a procession with torches and sacrificial animals. The dancing priests of Mars known as the Salii may also have taken part in the ceremony. Festivals associated with Mars were mainly held in March, Latin '' Martius'', the month that was named after him, and in October, to begin and end the military campaigning season. These festivals were the Equirria, the sacral chariot races held on February 27 and March 14, and on October 15 with t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
October Horse
In ancient Roman religion, the October Horse (Latin ''Equus October'') was an animal sacrifice to Mars carried out on October 15, coinciding with the end of the agricultural and military campaigning season. The rite took place during one of three horse-racing festivals held in honor of Mars, the others being the two Equirria on February 27 and March 14. Two-horse chariot races ('' bigae'') were held in the Campus Martius, the area of Rome named for Mars, after which the right-hand horse of the winning team was transfixed by a spear, then sacrificed. The horse's head ''(caput)'' and tail (''cauda'') were cut off and used separately in the two subsequent parts of the ceremonies: two neighborhoods staged a fight for the right to display the head, and the freshly bloodied ''cauda'' was carried to the Regia for sprinkling the sacred hearth of Rome. Ancient references to the ''Equus October'' are scattered over more than six centuries: the earliest is that of Timaeus (3rd century BC) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tubilustrium
In Ancient Rome the month of March was the traditional start of the campaign season, and the Tubilustrium was a ceremony to make the army fit for war. The ceremony involved sacred trumpets called ''tubae''. Johannes Quasten, however, argues that the common term for war trumpets being ''tubae'' is not the same as the ''tubi'' form here. He states that ''tubi'' was only used for trumpets used in sacrifices and goes on to show how this ceremony was a feast to cleanse and purify the trumpets used in sacrifices - it is a good example, he argues, of the special connection between music and cult in Roman ritual. The festival was held on March 23, the last day of the Quinquatria festival held in tribute to the Roman God Mars and Nerine, a Sabine goddess.J.Quasten, 1983, ''Music & Worship in Pagan & Christian Antiquity'', p.8 The event took place again on May 23. The ceremony was held in Rome in a building called the Hall of the Shoemakers (''atrium sutorium'') and involved the sacr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agonalia
An Agonalia or Agonia was an obscure archaic religious observance celebrated in ancient Rome several times a year, in honor of various divinities. Its institution, like that of other religious rites and ceremonies, was attributed to Numa Pompilius, the semi-legendary second king of Rome. Ancient calendars indicate that it was celebrated regularly on January 9, May 21, and December 11. A festival called Agonia or ''Agonium Martiale'', in honor of Mars, was celebrated March 17, the same day as the Liberalia, during a prolonged "war festival" that marked the beginning of the season for military campaigning and agriculture. Purpose The object of this festival was a disputed point among the ancients themselves, but as J.A. Hartung observed, the offering was a ram ''(aries)'', the usual victim sacrificed to the guardian gods of the state; the presiding priest was the ''rex sacrificulus'', and the site was the Regia, both of which could be employed only for ceremonies connected w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
