ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...

, the Caristia, also known as the Cara Cognatio, was an official but privately observed holiday on February 22, that celebrated love of family with banqueting and gifts. Families gathered to dine together and offer food and incense to the

Lares Lares ( , ; archaic , singular ''Lar'') were guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been hero-ancestors, guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries, or fruitfulness, or an amalgam of these. Lare ...

as their household gods. It was a day of reconciliation when disagreements were to be set aside, but the poet

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

observes satirically that this could be achieved only by excluding family members who caused trouble.

Activities and context

The Caristia was one of several days in February that honored family or ancestors. It followed the

Parentalia In ancient Rome, the Parentalia () or ''dies parentales'' (, "ancestral days") was a nine-day festival held in honor of family ancestors, beginning on 13 February. Although the Parentalia was a holiday on the Roman religious calendar, its observa ...

, nine days of remembrance which began on February 13 and concluded with the

Feralia Ferālia was an ancient Roman public festival Dumézil, Georges. ''Archaic Roman Religion''. pg 366. celebrating the Manes (Roman spirits of the dead, particularly the souls of deceased individuals) which fell on 21 February as recorded by Ov ...

on February 21, or in the view of some, the Caristia on the next day. For the Parentalia, families visited the tombs of their ancestors and shared cake and wine, both in the form of offerings and as a meal among themselves. The Feralia was a more somber occasion, a public festival of sacrifices and offerings to the

Manes In ancient Roman religion, the ''Manes'' (, , ) or ''Di Manes'' are chthonic deities sometimes thought to represent souls of deceased loved ones. They were associated with the ''Lares'', ''Lemures,'' '' Genii'', and ''Di Penates'' as deities ('' ...

, the spirits of the dead who required propitiation. The Caristia was a recognition of the family line as it continued into the present and among the living. There were distributions of bread, wine, and ''sportulae'' (bonuses, tips, tokens of appreciation). The poet

Martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of ''Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 and ...

has a pair of poems on gift-giving for the holiday; in one, he offers a sort of "

non-apology apology A non-apology apology, sometimes called a backhanded apology, nonpology, or fauxpology, is a statement in the form of an apology that does not express remorse, or assigns fault to those ostensibly receiving the apology. It is common in politics ...

" to his relatives Stella and Flaccus, explaining that he's sent them nothing because he didn't want to offend others who ought to receive a gift from him and wouldn't.

On the calendar

Unlike public festivals, the Caristia and other privately observed holidays were allowed to fall on even-numbered days of the

Roman 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 Roman dictator, dictator Julius Caesar and Roman emperor, emperor Augustus in the ...

. The Cara Cognatio remained on the calendar long after the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

had come under Christian rule. It appeared in the

Chronography of 354 The ''Chronograph of 354'' (or "Chronography"), also known as the ''Calendar of 354'', is a compilation of chronological and calendrical texts produced in 354 AD for a wealthy Roman Christian named Valentinus by the calligrapher and illustrator ...

, and the calendar of

Polemius Silvius Polemius Silvius (''fl.'' 5th century) was the author of an annotated Julian calendar that attempted to integrate the traditional Roman festival cycle with the new Christian holy days. His calendar, also referred to as a laterculus or ''fasti'', ...

(449 AD) juxtaposed the old holiday with a feast day commemorating the burial of St. Peter and

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

. As a "

love feast An agape feast or lovefeast (also spelled love feast or love-feast, sometimes capitalized) is a communal meal shared among Christians. The name comes from ''agape'', a Greek term for 'love' in its broadest sense. The lovefeast custom origina ...

," the Caristia was not incompatible with Christian attitudes; some scholars have detected an influence of the Parentalia and Caristia on the Christian agape feast, with the consumption of bread and wine at the ancestral tomb replaced by the

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

. In the 5th century, some Christian priests even encouraged participation in funerary meals. In the first half of the 6th century, some

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...

s still observed a form of the holiday with food offerings to the dead and a ritual meal. By then, however, the practice had come under suspicion as a "

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...

" ritual, and the Council of Tours in 567 explicitly censured those who "defiled" the feast day of St. Peter. The observances were condemned by

Caesarius of Arles Caesarius of Arles ( la, Caesarius Arelatensis; 468/470 27 August 542 AD), sometimes called "of Chalon" (''Cabillonensis'' or ''Cabellinensis'') from his birthplace Chalon-sur-Saône, was the foremost ecclesiastic of his generation in Merovingia ...

as an excuse for drunkenness, dancing, singing, and other demonic behaviors. The suppression of traditional commemorations of the dead were part of increasing efforts by the Church to control and monopolize religious behaviors in

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

Gaul.Effros, ''Creating Community'', pp. 74–78, especially pp. 75–76.

References

{{Roman religion (festival) Ancient Roman festivals February observances Family in ancient Rome