The Tiberinalia is a
Roman festival of
late antiquity
Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English has ...
, recorded in the
Calendar of Filocalus (354 AD), on August 17 ''(
XVI Kal. Sept.)'', the same day as the archaic
Portunalia. As a festival honoring
Father Tiber, it may reflect renewed Imperial patronage of traditional Roman deities, in particular the dedication made to ''Tiberinus'' by the emperors
Diocletian (reigned 284–305) and
Maximianus.
August's festivals deal with themes of agricultural bounty ensured by sun and water, centering on the
Volcanalia of
Volcanus (Vulcan) on August 23. The Portunalia, like the Volcanalia, was represented in large letters on
extant ''fasti'', indicating that it was regarded as among the most ancient holidays that were on the calendar before 509 BC.
Portunus
''Portunus'' is a genus of crab which includes several important species for fisheries, such as the blue swimming crab, ''Portunus pelagicus'' and the Gazami crab, '' P. trituberculatus''. Other species, such as the three-spotted crab ('' P ...
was originally a guardian of gateways and only later by extension a harbor god, and his relation to Tiber or Tiberinus as god of the
Tiber river is debatable; some have seen the Tiberinalia as assimilating the archaic Portunalia.
Theodor Mommsen inferred that the two gods were the same, but other scholars have rejected the identification.
Varro says that the Portunalia marks the institution of a shrine ''(
aedes)'' to Portunus ''in portu Tiberino'', but the meaning of ''portus'' here is unclear;
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 ...
mentions ''atria Tiberina'' ("halls of Tiberinus").
[Ovid, ''Fasti'' 4.329; Fowler, ''Roman Festivals'', p. 203.]
References
{{Roman religion (festival)
August observances
Ancient Roman festivals