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Vestalia
Vestalia was a Roman religious festival in honor of Vesta, the goddess of the hearth and the burning continuation of the sacred fire of Rome. It was held from 7–15 June, and was reserved as a women's-only event. Domestic and family life in general were represented by the festival of the goddess of the house and of the spirits of the storechamber — Vesta and the Penates — on ''Vestalia''. On the first day of festivities the ''penus Vestae'' ('' sanctum sanctorum'' of the temple of Vesta which was usually curtained off) was opened, for the only time during the year, at which women offered sacrifices. As long as the curtain remained open, mothers could come, barefoot and disheveled, to leave offerings to the goddess in exchange for a blessing to them and their family. The animal consecrated to Vesta, the donkey, was crowned with garlands of flowers and bits of bread on 9 June. Ovid says that donkeys were adorned with necklaces of bread-bits in memory of the myth where Vesta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vesta (mythology)
Vesta () is the virgin goddess of the hearth, home, and family in Roman religion. She was rarely depicted in human form, and was more often represented by the fire of her temple in the Forum Romanum. Entry to her temple was permitted only to her priestesses, the Vestal Virgins. Their virginity was deemed essential to Rome's survival; if found guilty of inchastity, they were buried or entombed alive. As Vesta was considered a guardian of the Roman people, her festival, the '' Vestalia'' (7–15 June), was regarded as one of the most important Roman holidays. During the ''Vestalia'' privileged matrons walked barefoot through the city to the temple, where they presented food-offerings. Such was Vesta's importance to Roman religion that following the rise of Christianity, hers was one of the last non-Christian cults still active, until it was forcibly disbanded by the Christian emperor Theodosius I in AD 391. The myths depicting Vesta and her priestesses were few; the most notable ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vestal Virgins
In Religion in ancient Rome, ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins or Vestals (, singular ) were Glossary of ancient Roman religion#sacerdos, priestesses of Vesta (mythology), Vesta, virgin goddess of Rome's sacred hearth and its flame. The Vestals were unlike any other public priesthood. They were chosen before puberty from several suitable candidates, freed from any legal ties and obligations to their birth family, and enrolled in Vesta's priestly Collegium (ancient Rome), college of six priestesses. They were supervised by a senior vestal but chosen and governed by Rome's leading male priest, the -- in the Imperial era, this meant the emperor. Vesta's acolytes vowed to serve her for at least thirty years, study and practise her rites in service of the Roman State, and maintain their chastity throughout. In addition to their obligations on behalf of Rome, Vestals had extraordinary rights and privileges, some of which were granted to no others, male or female. The Vestals took tu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient 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'' ("holidays" in the sense of "holy days"; singular also ''feriae'' or ''dies ferialis'') were either public ''(publicae)'' or private ''( privatae)''. State holidays were celebrated by the Roman people and received public funding. Games ''(ludi)'', 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 s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Feriale Duranum
The ''Feriale Duranum'' is a calendar of religious observances for a Roman military garrison at Dura-Europos on the Euphrates, Roman Syria, under the reign of Severus Alexander (224–235 AD). History and description The small papyrus roll was discovered among the documents of an auxiliary cohort, the '' Cohors XX Palmyrenorum'' (Twentieth Cohort of Palmyrenes), in the Temple of Azzanathkona. The calendar, written in Latin, is arranged in four columns, with some gaps. It offers important evidence for the religious life of the Roman military and the role of Imperial cult in promoting loyalty to the Roman emperor, and for the coexistence of Roman state religion and local religious traditions. Festivals named include Quinquatria (a purification of arms), the birthday of Rome, Neptunalia and two Rosaliae at which the military standards were adorned with roses. The calendar prescribes sacrifices for deities of traditional Roman religion such as the Capitoline triad of Jupite ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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'' ("holidays" in the sense of "holy days"; singular also ''feriae'' or ''dies ferialis'') were either public ''(publicae)'' or private ''( privatae)''. State holidays were celebrated by the Roman people and received public funding. Games ''(ludi)'', 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Religion In Ancient Rome
Religion in ancient Rome consisted of varying imperial and provincial religious practices, which were followed both by the Roman people, people of Rome as well as those who were brought under its rule. The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious, and attributed their success as a world power to their collective piety () in maintaining Pax deorum, good relations with the gods. Their Polytheism, polytheistic religion is known for having honoured List of Roman deities, many deities. The presence of Magna Graecia, Greeks on the Italian peninsula from the beginning of the historical period influenced Culture of ancient Rome, Roman culture, introducing some religious practices that became fundamental, such as the of Apollo. The Romans looked for common ground between their major gods and those of the Greeks (), adapting Greek mythology, Greek myths and iconography for Latin literature and Roman art, as the Etruscans had. Etruscan religion was also a major influence, partic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Religious
Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural, transcendental, and spiritual elements—although there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion. It is an essentially contested concept. Different religions may or may not contain various elements ranging from the divine, sacredness, faith,Tillich, P. (1957) ''Dynamics of faith''. Harper Perennial; (p. 1). and a supernatural being or beings. The origin of religious belief is an open question, with possible explanations including awareness of individual death, a sense of community, and dreams. Religions have sacred histories, narratives, and mythologies, preserved in oral traditions, sacred texts, symbols, and holy places, that may attempt to explain the origin of life, the universe, and other phe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Furrinalia
In ancient Roman religion, the Furrinalia (or Furinalia) was an annual festival held on 25 July to celebrate the rites ''( sacra)'' of the goddess Furrina. Varro notes that the festival was a public holiday ''( feriae publicae dies)''. Both the festival and the goddess had become obscure even to the Romans of the Late Republic; Varro (mid-1st century BC) notes that few people in his day even know her name. One of the fifteen ''flamines'' (high priests of official cult) was assigned to her, indicating her archaic stature, and she had a sacred grove ''(lucus)'' on the Janiculum, which may have been the location of the festival. Furrina was associated with water, and the Furrinalia follows the Lucaria (Festival of the Grove) on 19 and 21 July and the Neptunalia on 23 July, a grouping that may reflect a concern for summer drought.Robert Schilling, "Neptune," ''Roman and European Mythologies'' (University of Chicago Press, 1992, from the French edition of 1981), p. 138. This was the earli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
June Observances
June is the sixth and current month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars—the latter the most widely used calendar in the world. Its length is 30 days. June succeeds May and precedes July. This month marks the start of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and contains the summer solstice, which is the day with the most daylight hours. In the Southern Hemisphere, June is the start of winter and contains the winter solstice, the day with the fewest hours of daylight out of the year. In places north of the Arctic Circle, the June solstice is when the midnight sun occurs, during which the Sun remains visible even at midnight. The Atlantic hurricane season—when tropical or subtropical cyclones are most likely to form in the north Atlantic Ocean—begins on 1 June and lasts until 30 November. Several monsoons and subsequent wet seasons also commence in the Northern Hemisphere during this month. Multiple meteor showers occur annually in June, including the Arie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
May Queen
In the British Isles and parts of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, the May Queen or Queen of May is a personification of the May Day holiday of 1 May, and of Spring (season), springtime and the coming growing season. The May Queen is a girl who rides or walks at the front of a parade for May Day celebrations. She wears a white gown to symbolise purity and usually a tiara or Crown (headgear), crown. Her duty is to begin the May Day celebrations. She is generally crowned by flowers and makes a speech before the dancing begins. Certain age-groups dance around a Maypole celebrating youth and springtime. History In 1922 James George Frazer speculated that the figure of the May Queen was linked to ancient tree worship. In the High Middle Ages in England the May Queen was also known as the "Summer Queen". George C. Homans points out: "The time from Hocktide, after Easter Week, to Lammas (1 August) was summer (''estas'')." In 1557, a London diarist called Henry Machyn wrote ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rosalia (festival)
In the Roman Empire, Rosalia or Rosaria was a festival of roses celebrated on various dates, primarily in May, but scattered through mid-July. The observance is sometimes called a ''rosatio'' ("rose-adornment") or the ''dies rosationis'', "day of rose-adornment," and could be celebrated also with violets ''(violatio'', an adorning with violets, also ''dies violae'' or ''dies violationis'', "day of the "). As a commemoration of the dead, the ''rosatio'' developed from the custom of placing flowers at burial sites. It was among the extensive private religious practices by means of which the Romans cared for their dead, reflecting the value placed on tradition ''(mos maiorum'', "the way of the ancestors"), family lineage, and memorials ranging from simple inscriptions to grand public works. Several dates on the Roman calendar were set aside as public holidays or memorial days devoted to the dead. As a religious expression, a ''rosatio'' might also be offered to the cult statue o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parilia
''Festa di Pales, o L'estate'' (1783), a reimagining of the Festival of Pales by Joseph-Benoît Suvée The Parilia or Palilia was an ancient Roman festival of rural character performed annually on 21 April, aimed at cleansing both sheep and shepherd. It was carried out in acknowledgment to the Roman deity Pales, a deity of uncertain gender who was a patron of shepherds and sheep.''The Cambridge Ancient History 2nd Ed. Vol. X: The Augustan Empire 43 BC – AD 69''. Cambridge University Press. Great Britain: 1996. pp. 816-817 Ovid describes the Parilia at length in the '' Fasti'', an elegiac poem on the Roman religious calendar, and implies that it predates the founding of Rome (753 BC in the Varronian chronology), as indicated by its pastoral and preagricultural concerns. During the Republic, farming was idealized and central to Roman identity, so the festival took on a more generally rural character. Increasing urbanization caused the rustic Parilia to be reinterpreted rat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
