Februarius is the last month of the
Roman calendar year. It was seen as heralding Martius, the first
month of the Roman calendar and year, which was dedicated to Mars as the
god of Spring, fertility, and youth. In February Mars is honored as
Quirinus or Romulus, along with his mother Juno, goddess of marriage and
childbirth.
This month, named from februum, the Sabine word for purgation, is
focused on the februa, or expiatory ceremonies in honor of the
dead. It contains few dies fasti (days on which the Praetor was
permitted to give judgment).
Ante diem XV Kalendas Martius (referred to simply as Lupercalia); marked NP, it was a day on which public sacrifice (feria publica) was offered and on which no assemblies could meet.
Sources: Roman Calendar; Ovid, Fasti II. 266a-474
The Lupercalia was celebrated on the fifteenth of February in
commemoration of the founders of the Rome.
The celebration took place in the Lupercal, the cave on the
Palatine Hill in which the she-wolf is said to have nurtured Romulus and
Remus.
The ceremony involved the sacrifice of goats and young dogs by priests
called Luperci. Two noble young men were led to the priests, who
smeared their with the blood of the animals. Other Luperci
immediately wiped off the blood with wool dipped in milk. The two youths
were then required to laugh.
After the sacrifice was over, the Luperci covered themselves in
the skins of the sacrificed he-goats (capri) to imitate the god
Lupercus, whose surname was Februus, and who presided over
this ceremony. With the remaining dead skin in strips in their hands, the
priests ran around the old Palatine boundary of Rome established by
Romulus, including the Sacred Way, striking everyone they met. This
tracing of the old boundary was a symbolic purification of the land.
Women, particularly young wives, would come forward voluntarily to be
struck, believing that the act promoted fertility and easy delivery in
childbearing.
A memorable celebration of the Lupercalia in February 15, 44 BCE, a
month before Caesar's assassination, was described by Cicero. A drunk and
naked Mark Antony, one of the new Julian Luperci, offered a crown
to Caesar, who was seated during the festival activities in a golden
throne on the Rostra and dressed as a triumphant general. In the face of
the crowd's disapproval, Caesar rejected the crown twice and then angrily
offered his throat to anyone who wished to cut it.
Ante diem XIII Kalendas Martius (referred to simply as Quirinalia); marked NP, it was a day on which public sacrifice (feria publica) was offered and on which no assemblies could meet.
Sources: Roman Calendar; Ovid, Fasti II. 474a-532
The Quirinalia was celebrated on February 17. It was the
religious holiday of Quirinus, supposedly the warlike, divine
incarnation of Romulus, whose name has been connected with the Sabine word
for spear curis and to the Sabine town Cures. Its
inhabitants were called Quirites, a name that was transfered to
the community of Sabines and Romans joined under Romulus; the Romans
referred to themselves as Quiritesin their civil entity and as
Romani in their political and military capacity.
Ovid recites the legend that Romulus was taken bodily up to heaven in a
cloud and appeared afterward to Julius Proculus with the injunction that
the Quirites should not mourn him but rather worship the new god
Quirinus and cultivate their ancestral art of war. Quirinus
was originally part of the archaic Roman triad, along with Jupiter and
Mars. He was concerned with promoting the general welfare of the Roman
people. The triad retained this focus even after Quirinus was
replaced as its third member by the goddess Minerva, circa 200
BCE.
This was also a special day of devotion to those who lived on the
Quirinal Hill, one of the seven hills of Rome, where the Sabine settlement
was found. Also on this hill is the oldest shrine of Jupiter, the large
gardens of Julius Caesar, Constantine's famous baths, a palace and garden
for the Roman Catholic popes; it is currently the official residence and
offices of the President of the Italian Republic.
Ovid tells us that this day was also known as the Feast of Fools (Stultorum
Festa) and the Festival of Fornax (the Fornacalia), a
goddess they created from word for oven to whom they prayed to keep the
oven heat right for the grain. This feast is thought to mark the
transition of the Romans from warriors to farmer, learning through trial
and error to properly grow, prepare and cook grain.
Ante diem IX Kalendas Martius (referred to simply as Feralia); marked F (dies fasti), it was a day on which legal actions were permitted.
Sources: Roman Calendar; Ovid, Fasti II. 532a-570
The Feralia was a religious holiday which was chiefly observed on
February 21, marking the end of the celebration of the
Parentalia
(the dies parentes), which was celebrated for eight days, from
February 13 through 21.
According to Ovid, these days were wholly devoted to revering the souls
of loved ones who had died at their tombs. During these rites the temples
were closed, no incense was burned on altars, nor fires in the hearths,
and marriages were postponed, as the dead souls roamed the city and
received their propitiations. Each household made offerings at the graves
of its dead. Modest oblations, such as a few grains of salt, bread soaked
in wine, and loose violets, were accompanied by prayers and appropriate
words of respect at the hearth.
History records that the ancestral souls must not be forgotten, as the
dead are jealous to retain their portion of remembrance and punish
negligence. Ovid explains that the Feralia got its name because the living
“carry (ferunt) to the dead their dues.”
Ante diem VII Kalendas Martius (referred to simply as Terminalia); marked NP, it was a day on which public sacrifice (feria publica) was offered and on which no assemblies could meet.
Sources: Roman Calendar; Ovid, Fasti II. 638a-684
The Terminalia was celebrated on February 23, in honor of the
ancient god of boundaries, Terminus. Of all the ancient gods, Terminus
alone kept his shrine on the Capitoline Hill, sharing the Capitolium with
Jupiter in a shrine beneath a special opening made for him in the roof of
the Temple of Jupiter. This feast took place on the last day of the sacral
year, which Ovid called "the close of all the sacred rites.” The
public festival was celebrated at the sixth milestone from Rome, where a
sheep was annually sacrificed on the road which leads to Laurentum, Aeneas’
city.
In private celebrations on each plot of land, the two boundary owners
sprinkled lamb’s blood on their dividing boundary stone or post,
which served as the worshipping statue of Terminus. They built an
altar and brought garlands and two cakes to the god at the boundary stone.
Each member of the family contributed some gift: the husband chopped and
piled the wood, the altar fire was kindled by the wife from her home
hearth, the son tossed corn onto the fire, the daughter offered bits of
honeycomb, others brought wine. All were dressed in white and kept silent
as some of each of the gifts was sprinkled on the fire. The neighbors
feasted and sang the praises of the god who keeps the faith of the
boundaries which mark the property of individuals, cities, and kingdoms,
perhaps praying also that their boundary relationships would go well in
the following year.