The Poplifugia or Populifugia (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: ''the people's flight''), was a festival of

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 ...

celebrated on July 5, according to Varro, in commemoration of the flight of the Romans, when the inhabitants of Ficuleae and

Fidenae Fidenae ( grc, Φιδῆναι) was an ancient town of Latium, situated about 8 km north of Rome on the ''Via Salaria'', which ran between Rome and the Tiber. Its inhabitants were known as Fidenates. As the Tiber was the border between Etru ...

appeared in arms against them, shortly after the burning of the city by the

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

s (see

Battle of the Allia The Battle of the Allia was a battle fought between the Senones – a Gallic tribe led by Brennus, who had invaded Northern Italy – and the Roman Republic. The battle was fought at the confluence of the Tiber and Allia rivers, 11 Roman mile ...

); the traditional victory of the Romans, which followed, was commemorated on July 7 (called the '' Nonae Caprotinae'' as a feast of

Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods *Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Ju ...

Caprotina), and on the next day was the

Vitulatio The ''Vitulatio'' was an annual thanksgiving celebrated in ancient Rome on July 8, the day after the '' Nonae Caprotinae'' and following the Poplifugia on July 5. The Poplifugia is a lesser-known festival that was of obscure origin even for the Roma ...

, supposed to mark the thank-offering of the

pontifices A pontiff (from Latin ''pontifex'') was, in Roman antiquity, a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007 The term "pontiff" was late ...

for the event. Macrobius, who wrongly places the Poplifugia on the ''

nones Nones may refer to: * ''Nones'' (Auden), a 1951 book of poems by W. H. Auden * ''Nones'' (Berio), a 1954 orchestral composition by Luciano Berio *Nones (calendar), or ''Nonae'', days of the Roman Calendar *None (liturgy) Nones (), also known as N ...

'', says that it commemorated a flight before the

Tuscans it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

, while Dionysius refers its origin to the time when the patricians murdered Romulus after the people had fled from a public assembly on account of rain and darkness.

Joachim Marquardt Karl Joachim Marquardt (19 April 1812 – 30 November 1882) was a German historian and writer on Roman antiquities. In his later life he was Rector of the Ernestine Gymnasium, Gotha. Biography Marquardt was born at Danzig.

, ''Romische Staatsverwaltung,'' iii. 325.

Notes

References

* ''This entry incorporates public domain text originally from'' (eds. William Smith, LLD, William Wayte, G. E. Marindin), ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'', Albemarle Street, London. John Murray. 1890. Ancient Roman festivals July observances {{festival-stub