What is the strangest ancient Roman festival?

The famous slogan “Bread and circuses” vividly characterizes the lifestyle of the ancient Romans. Vast amounts of money were spent on spectacles in Rome; even the most avaricious emperors did not spare money for it - it was a contest in luxury.

Our ancient ancestors loved and knew how to have fun. Their calendar is filled with so many holidays with the most diverse traditions that the head is spinning. So, I counted about 173 holidays celebrated over one year.

I will tell you about several holidays that seemed interesting and entertaining to me. So please do not take this answer as academic work on the history of ancient Rome.

Saturnalia - everything is allowed!

The whole week of December was devoted to revelry and reckless fun. As soon as the priest-pontiff near the temple of Saturn proclaimed in full throat: “Saturnalia!”, Rome and its environs exploded with thousands of screams that trumpeted everyone, holidays, which means everything is possible - you can have a lot of drinks, debauchery, and gambling. You can dance on the streets and roofs, you can sing indecent songs in a chorus, and slaves can sit at the same table with the gentlemen. No work, no schools, no wars - Saturnalia!

There were even laws of their own Saturnalia, according to which it was not allowed to make any speeches, except for fun and mocking, it was necessary to prepare the money, clothes, silver in advance to send them to friends.

The famous Roman poet Horace dubbed all this “December freedom.” Freedom and clothes! Down with the awkward toga, long live the wide and comfortable tunic! Some soldiers also changed clothes, but not in tunics, but in the outfits of women of dubious behavior, terribly dressed up, walking not only through the barracks but also the streets, reaching in their gestures to the very degree of indecentness.

The jesters dressed up and drove around the city, even some of the prisoners. They did not stand during the ceremony at all. And all this for the sake of universal fun! Many bans were removed, and a nationwide theater show began. Slaves dressed in the clothes of the owners, and the owners, in tatters, began to serve at the table with pleasure.

Equiry - kick the goat out!

In general, Equiria - it was a holiday dedicated to Mars (the god of war). Roman warriors gathered on the Field of Mars, performed their rituals, and rejoiced. But the thing was that in those days, the war was also fought on schedule - in the warm season. Well, it was inconvenient for the Romans to travel around the mountains and valleys in winter when it is cold, and even snow sometimes falls. But when spring began, the soldiers joyfully shouted: “Hurray! War!” and arranged a celebration in honor of this. It happened on February 27 or March 14. Depending on the weather, apparently.

“But what does the goat have to do with it?” you may ask. Well, it is also known that during Equiry the Romans drove the goat out of the city. Apparently, this goat meant the end of the reign of the god Saturn, whose symbol he was, by the way. Saturn, along with his agricultural work, managed to get pretty tired by the spring. However, it is unknown how exactly this harsh god treated this disrespectful custom. And you won’t ask...

Lupercalia - sooo romantic.

Interesting fact, this Roman holiday magically turned into Valentine's Day. It would seem that they have something in common, except for a close date? (the festival was held every year on February 15).

Roman Lupercalia traditionally began in a grotto near the Palatine Hill, where according to legend, the she-wolf fed Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome. In that grotto ritually slaughtered the victims - young goats and dogs. Then a ritual meal followed (I don't even want to guess what and how they ate there...), and then the gathered people shredded the skins of sacrificial animals into pieces, stripped naked, and fled to the streets.

They ran around the city and whipped passers-by with these very skins. And passers-by did not scatter in horror, but quite the contrary — they rejoiced. It was considered a good omen to get hit by a Luperk, and for a woman, it foreshadowed easy delivery.

Lupercalia was one of the most important and revered holidays; even in Christian Rome, this tradition has existed for quite some time. Of course, a distinctly pagan ritual unnerved the clergy. In 496, Pope Gelasius I banned Lupercalia. But one ban was not enough - it was necessary to give people a worthy alternative. St. Valentine came in handy: February 14 was the day of his celebration, and later Valentine's Day. Better a frivolous romantic flair than sacrificial blood and goat skins.

Sorry for ruining Valentine's Day for you.

Interesting fact:

Lupercalia is when Julius Caesar was offered the crown

One of the most memorable celebrations fell on February 15, 44 BCE. Mark Antony went up to Julius Caesar with a diadem (a type of crown or headband) and attempted to give it to Caesar and proclaim him king. But Caesar refused the crown twice and ordered the crown taken to the Temple of Jupiter because Jupiter was Rome’s one king (later historians have said was almost certainly scripted). The crowd took such an act with cheers.

Some suggest that Anthony did this himself to either flatter Caesar or embarrass him, while at the time, it was believed that Caesar organized a trick as a way to test the waters to see if the people would accept the king. In any case, this did not work for Caesar; he was killed a month later.

Lemuria - beans for spirits.

Lemuria - the holidays of the dead in ancient Rome. They were held on May 9, 11 and 13. It was believed that these days, souls wander around the world in the form of ghosts of vampires, who are called larvae.

The father of the family got up at midnight and walked barefoot around the whole house to drive away the spirits. After that, he washed his hands in spring water, put grains of black beans in his mouth, which he then threw through the house without looking back. At the same time, he repeated the spell nine times: "I give it to you and with these beans I redeem myself and my loved ones." According to belief, invisible spirits followed him and collected beans scattered on the ground.

Matronalia - slaves are not allowed.

Some people consider this holiday to be the forerunner of March 8, especially since it was celebrated just at the beginning of spring (March calendars, Roman New Year). Only married ladies were allowed on Matronalia; slaves were not allowed there, unmarried girlfriends, too. What were the ladies doing on Matronalia we could not find out, so we only can assume.

Although the details have not been preserved other than the observation that 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), as Roman men did at the Saturnalia. For some, this holiday is associated with Mother's Day.

If you know more about these festivals, please let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading!