Празници и ритуали в Римската империя / Фен клубове / Древен Рим

1 April

Veneralia celebrated to honor Venus

The Veneralia (April 1) was the Ancient Roman festival of Venus Verticordia ("Changer of hearts"), the goddess of love and beauty. The worship of the goddess Fortuna Virilis ("Bold fortune") was also part of this festival.

In Rome, 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.

12 April

The Roman holiday of Cerealia begins

Cerealia was a 7-day festival celebrated in ancient Rome in honor of the goddess Ceres. The exact dates of the April festival are uncertain: it may have started on April 12 and ended on April 19 (Or it may have started on the Ides of April, i.e. April 13, or even on April 7.)

In Rome, this was the primary festival of Ceres and was accompanied by the Ludi Ceriales or "Games of Ceres" in the Circus Maximus. Ovid's description (Fasti iv.494) mentions that Ceres/Demeter's search for her lost daughter Proserpina was represented by women clothed in white, running about with lighted torches.

15 April

the Fordicia was celebrated in honor of Terra

The Fordicia, also called Hordicidia, was a Roman festival for the goddess Tellus held on April 15. During the ceremony, a pregnant cow was sacrificed, the calf fetus burned and the ashes saved for the Parilia festival.

19 April - The Roman holiday of Cerealia ends

21 April

the Parilia was held in honor of Pales

As described in the Fasti (a series of poems by Ovid), the agricultural festival of Parilia, performed annually on April 21, was aimed to cleanse both sheep and shepherd. It was carried out in acknowledgment to the Roman deity Pales, god of shepherd and sheep and of whose gender is uncertain. While the festival seems to have originated before the founding of Rome in 753 BCE, most references note a distinction between the rural and urban forms, illustrating the combination of the ceremony with other aspects of Roman religion in the urban setting.
The rural structure of the festival was carried out by the shepherd himself. After the sheep pen had been decorated with green branches and a wreath draped on the gate, the remainder of the ceremony took place in a sequential fashion. At the first sign of daylight, the shepherd would purify the sheep: by sweeping the pen and then constructing a bonfire of straw, olive branches, laurel, and sulfur. The noises produced by this burning combination were interpreted as a beneficial omen. The shepherd would jump through this flame, dragging his sheep along with him. Offerings of millet, cakes, and milk were then presented before Pales, marking the second segment of the ceremony. After these offerings, the shepherd would wet his hands with dew, face the east, and repeat a prayer four times. Such prayers requested Pales’ assistance in freeing the shepherd and the flock from evils brought about by accidental wrongdoings (e.g. trespassing on sacred grounds and removing water from a scared water source). The final portion of the rural festival made use of the beverage burranica, a combination of milk and sapa (boiled wine). After consumption of this beverage, the shepherd would leap through the fire three times, bringing and end to the ceremony.

The urban form of the Parilia, on the other hand, was blended with other Roman religious practices and carried out by a priest. Ovid personally participated in this form and describes his experiences in the Fasti. While the central actions of the rural ceremony carry over, the urban form adds two other religious festivals: the Fordicidia and the October Horse. The Fordicidia sacrifices a pregnant cow to the deity Tellus to promote cattle and field fertility. The unborn calf is then removed from the womb and burnt. The October Horse is the right hand horse of the team that won a particular chariot race on October 15 of the previous year.Together, the ashes of the unborn calf and the blood from the head of the October Horse are mixed by the Vestals and are added to the burning bean straw of the bonfire.
By the end of the late Republic, the Parilia became associated with the birthday of Rome. While there exists numerous accounts on the founding of Rome, the particular one related to the Parilia is described by Ovid in the Fasti. According to this myth, Romulus, upon landing in Rome on the day of the Parilia, took a stick and engraved a line in the ground (the pomerium) that defined the boundaries of the new city. He then prayed to the gods Jupiter, Mars, and Vesta asking for protection of this area. However, his brother Remus, unaware of the boundaries, crossed the line and was struck down by the god Celer.

Over time, and under the influence of several Roman rulers, the structure of the Parilia changed. First, after Caesar heard the news of Roman Victory at Munda in 45 BC (around the date of the Parilia), he added games to the ceremony. At these games, the citizens would wear crowns in Caesar’s honor. Secondly, in 121 AD Hadrian founded a new temple of Venus and Roma and changed the festival’s name to Romaea.

25 April

Robigalia in honor of Robigus

In Roman mythology, Robiga (meaning green or life) along with her brother, Robigus, were the fertility gods of the Romans. Her festival is the Robigalia and is on April 25.

The first, the Greater Litanies ("Litania Major", or "Romana) or Major Rogation, was introduced as a Christian substitute for Robigalia.

28 April

first day of the Floralia in honor of Flora

The Floralia, also known as the "Florifertum," was an ancient Roman festival dedicated to the goddess Flora. It was held on April 27 to May 3 and symbolized the renewal of the cycle of life, marked with dancing, drinking, and flowers. The Floralia was on the IV Kalends May. Dedicated to Flora, the goddess of flowers and vegetation, this day was considered by the prostitutes of Rome to be their own. While flowers decked the temples, Roman citizens wore colorful clothing instead of the usual white, and offerings were made of milk and honey to Flora.

29 April - second day of the Floralia in honor of Flora

30 April - third day of the Floralia in honor of Flora.