| Date |
Festival Name |
Description |
| January 3 |
|
In honour of Pax |
| January 9 |
Agonalia |
In honour of Janus. It usually involved the sacrifice of a ram offered to the god by the rex sacrificulus at the regia. |
| January 11 |
Juturnalia |
In honour of Juturna |
| Carmentalia |
Feast days of Carmenta.
This festival was chiefly observed by women, though little is known of the festivities or why it fell on two dates so close together. |
| January 15 |
| January 24 to 26 |
Sementivae
Paganalia |
Sementivae (held in the city) and Paganalia (held in rural areas), celebrated the end of the winter sowing season |
| February 13 to 21 |
Parentalia |
Festival honouring the Manes or Ancestors. Families gathered among the tombs of loved ones and at the family shrines within their own homes and made offerings or sacrifices of grain and wine to their souls. During this festival all other temples remained closed and weddings were forbidden. |
| February 15 |
Lupercalia |
A pastoral festival supposedly in honour of Faunus, to avert evil spirits and purify the city, releasing health and fertility. |
| February 17 |
Quirinalia |
In honour of Quirinus |
| February 21 |
Feralia |
A feast honoring the "infernal powers". It typically fell on February 21 and was the last day of the Parentalia The Feralia was also a religious holiday sacred to Jupiter. |
| February 22 |
Carista |
Also called Cara cognatio, it is the occasion of family reunion, on this day Roman fathers would pay special attention to their families. This particular festival did not have any religious obligations or affiliations, and was considered by some to be a break in February for Romans from the multitude of festivals celebrated in this month. |
| February 23 |
Terminalia |
Terminus' statue was a stone or post stuck in the ground to distinguish between properties. On his festival day owners of adjacent properties crowned the statue of Terminus with garlands and raised a rude altar, on which they offered up some corn, honeycombs, and wine, and sacrificed a lamb or a sucking pig. It marked the end of the ancient Roman year. |
| February 27 |
Equirria |
The first Equirria in honour of Mars: Priests performed rites purifying 9th army. Horse races were held on the Campius Martius (field of Mars), and a scapegoat was driven out of the city of Rome, expelling the old and bringing in the new. |
| March 1 |
|
Roman New Year |
| Matronalia |
Also called Matronales Feriae celebrated the goddess Juno. Married women would participate in rituals at the temple, they wore their hair loose (when Roman decorum otherwise required them to wear it up), and were not allowed to wear belts or to knot their clothing in any place. At home, women received gifts from their husbands and daughters, and Roman husbands were expected to offer prayers for their wives. Women were also expected to prepare a meal for the household slaves who were given the day off work. |
| Feriae Marti |
In honour of Mars |
| |
The sacred fire of Rome was renewed by the Vestal Virgins in honour of the goddess Vesta |
| March 14 |
Equirria |
The second Equirria in honour of Mars: Priests performed rites purifying 9th : Priests performed rites purifying 9the army. Horse races were held on the Campius Martius (field of Mars), and a scapegoat was driven out of the city of Rome, expelling the old and bringing in the new. |
| March 15 |
Ides of March |
Feasts held in honour of Anna Perenna. Sacrifices and prayers were offered to her to secure a healthy year. |
| March 15 and 16 |
Bacchanalia |
Wild and mystic festivals in honour of the Roman god Bacchus. |
| March 17 |
Agonalia |
In honour of Mars. It usually involved the sacrifice of a ram offered to the god by the rex sacrificulus at the regia. |
| Liberalia |
Festival in honour of Liber when people celebrated with sacrifices, processions, ribald and gauche songs, and masks which were hung on trees. |
| March 19 to 23 |
Quinquatria |
Also called Quinquatrus; It was so called as it was held on the fifth day after the Ides (March 15 - inclusive counting). Originally it was celebrated on only one day, but this was later extended over five days. The first day was a feast day, subsequent days were celebrated by gladiator contests. It was held in honour of both Mars (after whom the month was named) and Minerva |
| March 23 |
Tubilustrium |
On the last day of Quinquatria a ceremony was held to make the army fit for war. The war trumpets (tubae) were purified and a ewe was sacrificed in honour of Mars, the god of war. |
| March 30 |
|
In honour of Salus |
| April 1 |
Verenalia |
In honour of Venus. Women removed jewelry from the statue of the goddess, washed her, and adorned her with flowers, and similarly bathed themselves in the public baths wearing wreaths of myrtle on their heads. It was generally a day for women to seek divine help in their relations with men. |
| April 4 to 10 |
Ludi Megalenses |
Games were held in honour of Cybele |
| April 12 to 19 |
Cerealia
Ludi Ceriales |
Games and were held in honour of Ceres |
| April 15 |
Fordica |
Also called Hordicidia in honour of Tellus (Terra). During the ceremony, a pregnant cow was sacrificed, the calf fetus burned and the ashes saved for the Parilia festival. |
| April 21 |
Palilia |
Festival sometimes called Parilia in honour of Pales, consisted of offerings of grains, cakes, and milk. It served as a festival for protection and fertility for farms. |
| April 23 |
Vinalia urbana
Priora |
Wine casks which had been filled the preceding autumn were opened for the first time, and the wine tasted. But before men actually tasted the new wine, a libation was offered to Jupiter |
| April 25 |
Robigalia |
In honour of Robigus. An ancient religious festival, on the day foot races were held in Rome. |
| April 28 to May 1 |
Floralia |
Also called Ludi Florales or Florifertum: Dedicated to Flora and symbolising the renewal of the cycle of life, marked with dancing, drinking, and flowers. This day was considered by the prostitutes of Rome to be their own. While flowers decked the temples, Roman citizens wore colourful clothing instead of the usual white, and offerings were made of milk and honey to Flora. |
| May 1 |
|
Dedicated to Bona Dea (Fauna) |
| May 8 |
|
Dedicated to Mens. |
| May 9 |
|
Black beans were offered to the Larvae (Lemures) in the hopes of propitiating them; loud noises were also used to frighten them away. |
| May 15 |
Mercuralia |
In honour of Mercury, a festival of traders and merchants; Traders sprinkled their goods for sale with laurel boughs, and their hair with water from a fountain near the Caperna Gate called aqua Mercurii. They offered prayers to Mercury (who in legend had been a thief) for forgiveness for past and future perjuries, for profit, and for the continued ability to cheat customers! It is reasonable to suppose that the guild of merchants spent the evening of the Ides of May dining and feasting together. |
| May 21 |
Agonalia |
Dedicated to Veiovis. It usually involved the sacrifice of a ram offered to the god by the rex sacrificulus at the regia. |
| June 1 |
|
Festival in honour of Carnea |
| June 3 |
|
Festival in honour of Bellona |
| June 7 to 15 |
Vestalia |
In honour of Vesta. On the first day of the festivities the penus Vestae (the curtained sanctum sanctorum of her temple) was opened, for the only time during the year, for women to offer sacrifices in. Such sacrifices included the removal of an unborn calf from a pregnant cow. |
| June 11 |
Matralia |
Festival in honour of Matuta. It was celebrated only by Roman matrons; sacrifices of cakes baked in pots of earthenware were offered to the goddess. Slaves were not allowed to take part in the solemnities, or to enter the temple of the goddess. One slave, however, was admitted by the matrons, but only to be exposed to a humiliating treatment by one of the matrons who gave her a blow on the cheek and then sent her away from the temple. The matrons the children of their sisters with them, but not their own, the children were held in their arms, and their welfare prayed for. The statue of the goddess was then crowned with a garland by one of the matrons who had not yet lost a husband |
| June 13 |
Quinquatrus Minusculae |
Flute-players take a holiday and after roaming the streets, gather at the temple of Minerva for a feast. |
| June 20 |
|
Festival in honour of Summanus. There was a public sacrifice, and the god was also offered wheel-shaped cakes called summanalia. |
| July 4 |
|
In honour of Pax |
| July 5 |
Poplifugia |
Dedicated to Jupiter. Poplifugia means "the flight of the people" and may refer to the sacking of Rome by the Gauls in 360 BC |
| July 6 to 13 |
Ludi Apollinares |
Games in honour of Apollo |
| July 7 |
Nonae Caprotinae |
"The Nones of the Wild Fig" dedicated to Juno |
| |
Sacerdotes publici (priests) made sacifices to Consus |
| July 9 |
Caprotinia |
Feasts dedicated to Juno in favour of the female slaves. A solemn occasion during which they ran about, beating themselves with their fists and rods. Only women assisted in the sacrifices offered at this feast. |
| July 19 |
Lucaria |
An ancient Roman feast, solemnized in the woods, where the Romans, defeated and pursued by the Gauls in year 390 BC, retired and concealed themselves; it was held in a wood between the Tyber and the road called Via Salaria. |
| July 23 |
Neptunalia |
An obscure archaic two-day festival held in the middle of the summer drought in honour of Neptune, probably celebrated with games and feasts. The people used to build huts of branches and foliage, in which they probably feasted, drank, and amused themselves. It was one of the dies comitiales, when committees of citizens could vote on civil or criminal matters. |
| August 10 |
Opalia |
Dedicated to Ops |
| August 13 |
Vertumnalia |
Dedicated to Vertumnus |
| Nemoralia |
Festival of Torches, in honor of Diana. Worshippers would wash their hair and dress it with flowers before forming a procession carrying torches and candles around the waters of Lake Nemi (known as Diana's mirror). |
| August 17 |
Portunalia |
In honour of Portunus. Keys were thrown into a fire for good luck. |
| August 19 |
Vinalia Rustica |
A wine festival where the flamen dialis offered lambs to Jupiter and then opened the vintage for drinking. Also the ripening grapes were offered to Venus, the guardian of vineyards, gardens, and olive groves. |
| August 21 |
Consualia
Consuales Ludi |
Games and races in honour of Consus. During the celebration horses, mules, and asses were exempted from all labour, and were led through the streets adorned with garlands and flowers. Chariot races were held this day in the Circus Maximus, which included an odd race in which chariots were pulled by mules. |
August 23
| Vulcanalia |
Bonfires were created in honour of the god Vulcan, where fish were sacrificed. It was also customary to make crafts by candlelight in his honour. Juturna, a water nymph, was also honoured in the hope that the she would keep fire from damaging the land or homes. |
| August 25 |
Opiconsivia
Opeconsiva |
Dedicated to Ops. Horses and mules were adorned with flowers and a chariot race was held. |
| August 27 |
Volturnalia |
In honour of Volturnus, a day with feasting, wine-drinking, and games. |
| September 4 to 19 |
Ludi Romani |
Games for the people of Rome to the honour of Jupiter, organized by the curule aedile |
| October 4 |
Ieiunium Cereris |
A day of fasting in honour of Ceres |
| October 11 |
Meditrinalia |
A wine festival to celebrate the end of the vine harvest and making of the new wine, originally dedicated to Jupiter and later to Meditrina. |
| October 13 |
Fontinalia |
In honour of Fontus |
| October 15 |
Equirria
Equus October |
Horse races were held in honour of Mars. |
| October 19 |
Armilustrium |
In honour of Mars. The weapons of the soldiers were ritually purified and stored for winter. |
| November 1 |
Pomonia |
In honour of Pomona |
| November 13 |
Epulum Jovis |
A feast in honour of Jupiter. The gods were formally invited, and attended. A feast was then offered to the gods in which their images were placed on couches and food was put before them. A special couch was covered with cushions for the statues of the gods, and it was called a pulvinar. |
| November 15 |
Feronalia |
In honour of Feronia. A trade fair was held in the grove close to her temple at the base of Mt. Soracte in Capena; the participants were protected by the sacred nature of the grove. |
| November 24 |
Brumalia |
Dedicated to Bacchus and celebrated during 30 days commencing on November 24. The festival included drinking and merriment. During this feast, prophetic indications were taken of the prospects for the remaining part of the winter. |
| December 4 |
|
In honour of Bona Dea (Fauna) The rites were conducted annually by the wife of the senior magistrate present in Rome and were assisted by the Vestal Virgins. Exclusive to women; even paintings or drawings of men or male animals were forbidden, along with the words "wine" and "myrtle" because she had once been beaten by Faunus with a myrtle stick after she got drunk only. |
| December 5 |
Faunalia |
In honour of Faunus. Peasants brought rustic offerings, and amused themselves with dancing. |
| December 11 |
Agonalia |
Dedicated to Sol (Sol Indiges). It usually involved the sacrifice of a ram offered to the god by the rex sacrificulus at the regia. |
| December 15 |
Consualia
Consuales Ludi |
This shrine dedicated to Consus was covered with earth all year and was only uncovered for this one day. During the celebration horses, mules, and asses were exempted from all labour, and were led through the streets adorned with garlands and flowers. Chariot races were held. |
| December 17 |
Saturnalia |
The feast at which the Romans commemorated the dedication of the temple of the god Saturn, which took place on 17 December. Over the years, it expanded to a whole week, up to December 23. It involved the conventional sacrifices, a couch (lectisternium) set out in front of the temple of Saturn and the untying of the ropes that bound the statue of Saturn during the rest of the year. Besides the public rites there were a series of holidays and customs celebrated privately. The celebrations included a school holiday, the making and giving of small presents (saturnalia et sigillaricia) and a special market (sigillaria). Gambling was allowed for all, even slaves. It was a time to eat, drink, and be merry. The toga was not worn, but rather the synthesis, i.e. colorful, informal "dinner clothes"; and the pileus (freedman's hat) was worn by everyone. Slaves were exempt from punishment, and treated their masters with disrespect. The slaves celebrated a banquet: before, with, or served by the masters. A Saturnalicius princeps was elected master of ceremonies for the proceedings. Saturnalia became one of the most popular Roman festivals which led to more tomfoolery, marked chiefly by having masters and slaves ostensibly switch places. The banquet, for example, would often be prepared by the slaves, and they would prepare their masters' dinner as well. It was license within careful boundaries; it reversed the social order without subverting it. (Taken from Wikipedia) |
| December 18 |
Eponalia |
Feast of Epona. |
| December 19 |
Opalia |
Feast in honour of Ops |
| December 21 |
Angeronalia
Divalia |
Feast in honour of Angerona. The pontifices performed sacrifices in the temple of Volupta (who is possible the same goddess as Angerona) and supposed to drive away all the sorrow and chagrin of life |
| December 23 |
Larentalia |
Sacrifices were made and feasts were held to honour Dea Tacita (Larenta). She is given parental rites (Parentalia) as the mother of the divine ancestors (Romulus and Remus) |
| December 25 |
Dies Natalis Invicti Solis |
Day dedicated to the Sol Invictus |
