Roman Holidays For July
Interested in knowing what the Romans celebrated this month? Well, take a look....
When in Rome! The Roman Holidays for the month of July...submitted by staff writer, Evening.
Julius
July 5 -Poplifugia, festival in honour of Jupiter- Juppiter Optimus Maximus (Jupiter Best, Greatest) as the patron deity of the Roman state, in charge of laws and social order. He was the chief god of the Capitoline Triad, with Juno and Minerva. Temples to Juppiter Optimus Maximus or the Capitoline Triad as a whole were commonly built by the Romans at the center of new cities in their colonies. It was once believed that the Roman god Jupiter was in charge of cosmic Justice, and in ancient Rome, people swore to Jove in their courts of law, which lead to the common expression "By Jove!", still used as an archaism today. In addition, "Jovial" is a medium-common adjective still used to describe people who are jolly, optimistic, and buoyant in temperament.
Poplifugia- Is to commemorate the people's panicky flight when faced with either a) the enemy army come to seize the women, or b) the occasion of Romulus's disappearance into thin air. The actual, original meaning of the Poplifugia had been long forgotten, though it may have referred to a ritual defeat or chasing away of the neighboring Latin armies.
July 6 to 13 - Ludi Apollinares, games in honour of Apollo-was the archer-god of medicine and healing, light, truth, archery and also a bringer of death-dealing plague; as the leader of the Muses (Apollon Musagetes) and director of their choir, he is a god of music and poetry. Hymns sung to Apollo were called Paeans. Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin brother of the chaste huntress Artemis, who took the place of Selene as goddess of the moon. As the prophetic deity of the Delphic oracle. Apollo was also considered to have dominion over colonists, over medicine, mediated through his son Asclepius, and was the patron defender of herds and flocks. His colors are gold and white.
Ludi Apollinares (since 208 BC) is the festival to Apollo in which games and arts were displayed as well as running games.
July 7 - Nonae Caprotinae Juno; also the sacerdotes publici sacrificed to Consus - was the protector of grains and (subterranean) storage bins (silos), and as such was represented by a corn seed. His altar was placed beneath the ground near the Circus Maximus in Rome. Consus also became a god associated with secret conferences, perhaps due to a common misinterpretation of his name. The Latins (Romans) associated Consus' name with consilium ("councils, synagogues, assemblies; place where councils assemble"). Consus was a member of the council of the Di Consentes ("Council of the Gods") formed by six gods and six goddesses which assembled in order to assist Jupiter in making great decisions such as destroying Troy or Atlantis with a Flood.
Nonae Caprotiae- Caprotina is an epithet of Juno in Her aspect as a fertility Goddess. As Juno Caprotina she is associated with goats (Latin capra, "she-goat", caper, "he-goat") and with figs, both of which are symbolic of fertility: the fig fruit bears many seeds, and goats are well-known for their randiness. Her festival was called the Nonae Caprotina, or the "Nones of Caprotina", held on the nones or 7th day of July, and it was exclusively celebrated by women, especially slave-women. The Roman explanation of the Nonae Caprotina is thus: after Rome had survived a siege by the Gauls (historically in the 4th century BCE), some of the less-friendly neighboring Latin tribes decided to take advantage of Rome's weakened position and demanded Roman women in marriage, under the threat of destroying the city. While the Senate debated what to do, a slave-woman named Tutela took the matter into her own hands: with a group of other slave- women dressed as free women, she went to the amassed enemy army, and under the guise of celebrating a wedding feast, got the Latins quite drunk. After they had fallen asleep the slave-girls took their weapons, and Tutela climbed a nearby wild fig tree (caproficus in the Latin) and waved a torch as signal for the Romans to attack. This they did, and as a reward for the resulting victory, the Senate gave each slave-woman who participated in her freedom, as well as a generous dowry. After that, in remembrance of the victory, the Nonae Caprotina was celebrated. Fig- branches and the milky sap of the fig-tree were offered to Juno, and festivities, feasts and rites were held in the fig-grove of the Campus Martius (the Plain of Mars). The fertility of the figs and goats brought by Juno Caprotina was probably seen as encouraging the fertility of the women, as certain of the rites of the Nonae Caprotinae compare with the Lupercalia, a festival also dedicated to fertility.
July 9 - Caprotinia- were ancient Roman festivals which were celebrated on July 9, in favour of the female slaves. During this solemnity they ran about, beating themselves with their fists and with rods. None but women assisted in the sacrifices offered at this feast.
July 18 - day of bad omens: defeat in Allia (390 BC) that led to the sack of Rome by the Gauls.
July 19 - Lucaria - an ancient Roman feast, solemnized in the woods, where the Romans who survived, defeated and pursued by the Gauls, retired and concealed themselves; it was held, on July 19, in a wood, between the Tyber and the road called Via Salaria.
July 23 - Neptunalia held in honour of Neptune- The god of the sea among the Romans. He was not a very powerful god, and little is known of his origin. When he was first introduced in Rome, he already had all the characteristics of the Greek Poseidon. Despite the fact that his cult grew after his equation with Poseidon, Neptune was far less popular among sailors than Poseidon was among the Greek mariners. Poseidon was swallowed by his father. He was regurgitated only after Zeus forced Cronus to vomit up the infants he had eaten. Zeus and his brothers and sisters, along with the Hecatonchires, Gigantes and Cyclopes overthrew Cronus and the other Titans. According to other variants, Poseidon was raised by the Telchines on Rhodes, just as Zeus was raised by the Korybantes on Crete.When the world was divided in three, Jupiter received the earth and sky, Pluto the underworld and Neptune the sea.
Neptunalia- was an obscure archaic two-day festival in honour of Neptune as god of waters, celebrated at Rome in the heat and drought of summer, probably July 23 .(It was one of the dies comitiales, when committees of citizens could vote on civil or criminal matters. In the ancient calendar this day is marked as Nept. ludi et feriae, or Nept. ludi, the festival was celebrated with games. Respecting the ceremonies of this festival nothing is known, except that the people used to build huts of branches and foliage, in which they probably feasted, drank, and amused themselves. It was celebrated in the Campus Martius.
