by Aldus Marius on Thu Apr 24, 2008 5:37 am
Salvete omnes!
Fasti for Friday, 25 April:
ante diem VII Kalendas Maias
[NP]
ROBIGALIA
Notes: The Robigalia is a public festival to preserve the fields from mildew; it is said to have been instituted by Numa, and was celebrated a.d. vii. Kal. Mai. (April 25th) (Pliny, Historia Naturalis XVIII.29 s69; Varro, de Re Rustica I.1 p90, ed. Bip.; de Lingua Latina VI.16, ed. Müll.; Festus, s.v.). The sacrifices offered on this occasion consisted of the entrails of a dog and a sheep, accompanied with frankincense and wine: a prayer was presented by a flamen in the grove of the ancient deity, whom Ovid and Columella make a goddess (Ovid, Fasti IV.907-09;942; Colum. X.342).
Here's our entry:
* Sacrifice of a dog by the Flamen Quirinalis at the fifth mile on the Via Claudia. "Spare Ceres’ grain, O scabby Robigo, let the tips of new shoots sway gently above the earth, let growing crops be nourished …keep your scaly hands from the harvest." (Ovid, Fasti IV.911-21)
* Serapia: Temple of Serapis on the Quirinal dedicated in 217 CE.
This day is of personal significance to me. Seven years ago on this date I left Nova Roma, some weeks after most of my friends had done so on the Ides of March. I was awaiting the outcome of one last round of negotiations, which fell through. I left when it became clear that I could do nothing else. By then I was feeling a bit like a sacrificed dog myself.
In fide,
Aldus Marius Peregrinus.