Modern Date : February 1stMarket Day

The Kalends of February

    This is one of the dies nefasti (N), a day on which no legal action or public voting could take place.

    February is a month sacred to the gods Mars (as Quirinus, or Romulus) and Juno, the wife of Jupiter.
    This was said to be the day, in 1468 BC, when Pharaoh Tuthmoses III of the 18th Dynasty seized control of Egypt, upon the death, likely murder, of Hatsheput. Hatsheput, the first female king, had ruled peacefully for seventeen years. She had initiated a culture of peace, building temples and sponsoring the arts. In a vindictive fury, Tuthmoses II tore down her statues and chased her supporters into hiding. A subsequent rebellion against Tuthmoses III led to militarization of the country and the foundation of empire. Ten days later he set out for Armageddon.
    February is a month in which particular reverence was shown to the spirits of deceased ancestors. In a familiar cultural dichotomy in which both death and life were celebrated, this was a month devoted to fertility, both of men and women, and of the land. Many of the rites had vestiges of agricultural overtones. It may be more than coincidence that the dead, who were either buried or considered to be in the "underworld", and the fruits of agriculture, both relate to the earth.

    On the kalends of every month interest payments were due. The interest rate in Rome was normally 1/2% (per month).
    In Greece, on this day and the next, they celebrated the Lesser Eleusinian Mysteries. Triptolemus, who had been cured of a childhood illness by Ceres, was taken around the world on a chariot and shown the wonders of nature. When he returned home to Eleusis he built a magnificent temple to Ceres and established the worship of the goddess. These rites, the Eleusinian Mysteries, surpassed all other Greek religious celebrations in their solemnity and splendor.



Modern Date : February 2ndMarket Day

ante diem IV Nonas Februarias
Day 4 to the Nones of February

    This is one of the dies nefasti (N), a day on which no legal action or public voting could take place. The dies nefasti of February were days of religious ceremony honoring the dead and heralding the rebirth of the Spring and its associated fertility.

    February is a month sacred to the gods Mars (as Quirinus, or Romulus) and Juno, the wife of Jupiter. Juno (Hera) was the mother of Mars, called Ares by the Greeks, and sometimes Enyalius. Ares was often accompanied in his bloody campaigns by Enyo, the murderess goddess of war who was known as Bellona by the Romans. Ares paid no attention to which cause was right or wrong and was concerned only with where he could cause maximum carnage. The Romans held a milder, more honorable view of Mars, honoring him as the son of Zeus and the father of Romulus.
    It is also a month in which particular reverence was shown to the spirits of deceased ancestors. This was a month devoted to fertility, both of men and women, and of the land, and celebration of the coming Spring.
    In Greece, this was the second of the three days on which they celebrated the Lesser Eleusinian Mysteries. Plutarch said of the Eleusinian Mysteries, "When a man dies he is like those who are being initiated into the mysteries...Our whole life is but a succession of wanderings and painful courses...but as soon as we exit, places of purity receive us, with songs and dance and the solemnities of holy words and sacred visions."



Modern Date : February 3rd Market Day

ante diem III Nonas Februarias
Day 3 to the Nones of February

    This is one of the dies nefasti (N), a day on which no legal action or public voting could take place. The dies nefasti of February were days of religious ceremony honoring the dead and heralding the rebirth of the Spring and its associated fertility.
    February is a month sacred to the gods Mars (as Quirinus, or Romulus) and Juno, the wife of Jupiter. Juno (Hera, was the mother of Mars. Mars was known to the Greeks as Ares, the god of war. The war god was wild and ungovernable, a god who glorified in strife for its own sake and revelled in slaughter. He was thought to gloat over the death and destruction he caused. He was typically accompanied by his two sons Deimos (Fear or Terror) and Phobos (Dismay or Flight from Fear). The Romans held a milder, more honorable view of Mars, honoring him as the son of Zeus and the father of Romulus.
    Juno, also called Saturnia and known as Hera by the Greeks, was the daughter of Cronus (Saturn) and regarded as a paragon of motherly virtues. She was the divinity of sacred marriage and childbirth, and was prone to violent wrath at every violation of her marriage bed with Zeus.
    February is also a month in which particular reverence was shown to the spirits of deceased ancestors. This was a month devoted to fertility, both of men and women, and of the land, and celebration of the coming Spring.
    In Greece, this was the third and final day on which they celebrated the Lesser Eleusinian Mysteries. Many Romans sought admittance to these mysteries, incuding Marcus Aurelius, who succeeded, and Nero, who did not. Cicero, who succeeded, implied of the rites of Eleusis that "...they seem to be a recognition of the powers of Nature rather than the power of God."


Modern Date : February 4th Market Day

pridie Nonas Februarias
Day before the Nones of February

    This is one of the dies nefasti (N), a day on which no legal action or public voting could take place. The dies nefasti of February were days of religious ceremony honoring the dead and heralding the rebirth of the Spring and its associated fertility.

    Septimius Severus died at York in England this day in 211 AD, after a long illness. He was 65. Caracalle succeeded him as emperor this day.
    Geta became emperor this day in 211 AD.
    February is a month sacred to the gods Mars (as Quirinus, or Romulus) and Juno, the wife of Jupiter. Juno (Hera) was the mother of Mars, called Ares by the Greeks, and sometimes Enyalius. Ares was often accompanied in his bloody campaigns by Enyo, the murderess goddess of war who was known as Bellona by the Romans. Ares paid no attention to which cause was right or wrong and was concerned only with where he could cause maximum carnage. The Romans held a milder, more honorable view of Mars, honoring him as the son of Zeus and the father of Romulus.
    February is also a month in which particular reverence was shown to the spirits of deceased ancestors. This was a month devoted to fertility, both of men and women, and of the land.


Modern Date : February 5th Market Day

The Nones of February

    This is one of the dies nefasti (N), a day on which no legal action or public voting could take place. The dies nefasti of February were days of religious ceremony honoring the dead and heralding the rebirth of the Spring and its associated fertility.

    The rex sacrorum would appear on the steps of the Capitol on this day and announce to the people what days of the months would be holidays.
    Title of Pater Patriae conferred on Augustus in 2 BCE.
    February is a month sacred to the gods Mars (as Quirinus, or Romulus) and Juno (Hera), the wife of Jupiter (Zeus) and mother of Mars. Mars was known to the Greeks as Ares, the god of war. The war god was wild and ungovernable, a god who glorified in strife for its own sake and revelled in slaughter. He was thought to gloat over the death and destruction he caused. He was typically accompanied by his two sons Deimos (Fear or Terror) and Phobos (Dismay or Flight from Fear). The Romans held a milder, more honorable view of Mars, honoring him as the son of Zeus and the father of Romulus.
    February is also a month in which particular reverence was shown to the spirits of deceased ancestors. This was a month devoted to fertility, both of men and women, and of the land.


Modern Date : February 6th Market Day

ante diem VIII Idus Februarias
Eighth Day to the Ides of February


    This is one of the dies nefasti (N), a day on which no legal action or public voting could take place. The dies nefasti of February were days of religious ceremony honoring the dead and heralding the rebirth of the Spring and its associated fertility.

    February is a month sacred to the gods Mars (as Quirinus, or Romulus) and Juno, the wife of Jupiter. Juno (Hera) was the mother of Mars, called Ares by the Greeks, and sometimes Enyalius. Ares was often accompanied in his bloody campaigns by Enyo, the murderess goddess of war who was known as Bellona by the Romans. Ares paid no attention to which cause was right or wrong and was concerned only with where he could cause maximum carnage.
    On this day in 46 BCE JuliusCaesar was victorious at the battle of Thapsus in North Africa .
    In Greece, this day was the Festival of Aphrodite, who the Romans knew as Venus. Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, was the daughter of Zeus and Dione. She was known to the Phoenicians as Astarte and Ashtoreth to the Hebrews and King Solomon, who built a temple to her. On her birth the seas bubbled and turned rosy, and she arose, full grown and standing on a seashell, in all the surpassing glory of her loveliness and arrayed in the panoply of her irresistible charms. She floated to Cyprus, arriving in April, and as soon as her white feet touched the shore, grass and flowers sprang up at her feet and she was sweetly received by the Three Graces.


Modern Date : February 7th Market Day

ante diem VII Idus Februarias
Seventh Day to the Ides of February

    This is one of the dies nefasti (N), a day on which no legal action or public voting could take place. The dies nefasti of February were days of religious ceremony honoring the dead and heralding the rebirth of the Spring and its associated fertility.
    February is a month sacred to the gods Mars (as Quirinus, or Romulus) and Juno, the wife of Jupiter. It is also a month in which particular reverence was shown to the spirits of deceased ancestors.
    On this day in 457 AD the Eastern Roman emperor Marcian died and was replaced by a Thracian officer named Leo.
    In Greece, this day was celebrated as the Day of Selene (or day of Semele) and in Athens was called the Lenaea. The name Semele is a version of Selene, Helen, meaning 'moon' and Semele was the daughter of Cadmus. The Lenaea was celebrated at Athens as the Festival of Wild Women. In this festival a yearling bull, representing Dionysius, was sacrificed to Semele and cut into nine pieces. One piece was burned and the rest was feasted on. The nine pieces represented the original number of orgiastic moon-priestesses who presided over the ceremonies. The rites involved the nine priestesses dancing around a statue in the temple, probably followed by an orgy.


Modern Date : February 8th Market Day

ante diem VI Idus Februarias
Sixth Day to the Ides of February

    This is one of the dies nefasti (N), a day on which no legal action or public voting could take place. The dies nefasti of February were days of religious ceremony honoring the dead and heralding the rebirth of the Spring and its associated fertility.

    February is a month sacred to the gods Mars (as Quirinus, or Romulus) and Juno, the wife of Jupiter. Juno (Hera, was the mother of Mars. Mars was known to the Greeks as Ares, the god of war. The war god was wild and ungovernable, a god who glorified in strife for its own sake and revelled in slaughter. He was thought to gloat over the death and destruction he caused. He was typically accompanied by his two sons Deimos (Fear or Terror) and Phobos (Dismay or Flight from Fear). The Romans held a milder, more honorable view of Mars, honoring him as the son of Zeus and the father of Romulus.
    Juno, also called Saturnia and known as Hera by the Greeks, was the daughter of Cronus (Saturn) and regarded as a paragon of motherly virtues. She was the divinity of sacred marriage and childbirth, and was prone to violent wrath at every violation of her marriage bed with Zeus.
    It is also a month in which particular reverence was shown to the spirits of deceased ancestors. This was a month devoted to fertility, both of men and women, and of the land.


Modern Date : February 9th Market Day

ante diem V Idus Februarias
Fifth Day to the Ides of February

    This is one of the dies nefasti (N), a day on which no legal action or public voting could take place. The dies nefasti of February were days of religious ceremony honoring the dead and heralding the rebirth of the Spring and its associated fertility.

    February is a month sacred to the gods Mars (as Quirinus, or Romulus) and Juno, the wife of Jupiter.Juno (Hera) was the mother of Mars, called Ares by the Greeks, and sometimes Enyalius. Ares was often accompanied in his bloody campaigns by Enyo, the murderess goddess of war who was known as Bellona by the Romans. Ares paid no attention to which cause was right or wrong and was concerned only with where he could cause maximum carnage.
    February is also a month in which particular reverence was shown to the spirits of deceased ancestors. This was a month devoted to fertility, both of men and women, and of the land.
    In Greece, on this day they celebrated the Festival of Apollo. Apollo was called by the same name in Rome where they dedicated a temple to him. Apollo was the son of Jove (Jupiter) and Latona, the brother of Diana, and was the god of archery, music, poetry, and healing. He was also called Phoebus Apollo. On his birth at Delos, Apollo was acclaimed by all the gods and the island was covered with golden flowers and encircled with swans. As soon as he tasted the ambrosia of his nurse Themis, he suddenly grew to full youth and demanded a lyre and a bow. He announced that his fathers will would be presented to the world through his oracular lyric poetry. Apollo then began to play and to "step high and featly" as became his style of dance. Apollo's temple was at Crisa below Mount Parnassus in Phocis.


Modern Date : February 10th Market Day

ante diem VIII Idus Februarias
Fourth Day to the Ides of February

    This is one of the dies nefasti (N), a day on which no legal action or public voting could take place. The dies nefasti of February were days of religious ceremony honoring the dead and heralding the rebirth of the Spring and its associated fertility.

    February is a month sacred to the gods Mars (as Quirinus, or Romulus) and Juno, the wife of Jupiter. It is also a month in which particular reverence was shown to the spirits of deceased ancestors. This was a month devoted to fertility, both of men and women, and of the land.
    This was said to be the day, in 1468 BC, when Pharaoh Tuthmoses III of the 18th Dynasty set forth to Armageddon (Megiddo) to do battle with an alliance of over three hundred princes. With an estimated force of perhaps 30,000 men, this would have been the largest army ever assembled. The Egyptians probably had half that number. This was the largest battle that had ever been fought and so impressed were the Hebrews by the event that it became a metaphor in the Book of Revelation for the Apocalypse, or the final battle. After seizing power from Hatsheput ten days earlier, who was killed, the warlike Tuthmoses III assembled this army to put down the alliance of rebels and enemies, and in so doing took Egypt from a nation to an empire.
    Juno, also called Saturnia and known as Hera by the Greeks, was the daughter of Cronus (Saturn) and regarded as a paragon of motherly virtues. She was the divinity of sacred marriage and childbirth, and was prone to violent wrath at every violation of her marriage bed with Zeus.


Modern Date : February 11th Market Day

ante diem VIII Idus Februarias
Third Day to the Ides of February

    This is one of the dies nefasti (N), a day on which no legal action or public voting could take place.


    Britannicus, Claudius' son, was poisoned by Nero this day in 55 AD.
    Tiberius married Julia, daughter of Augustus, in 11 BCE, giving him a claim to be the next emperor.
    The dies nefasti of February were days of religious ceremony honoring the dead and heralding the rebirth of the Spring and its associated fertility.
    February is a month sacred to the gods Mars (as Quirinus, or Romulus) and Juno, the wife of Jupiter. Juno (Hera, was the mother of Mars. Mars was known to the Greeks as Ares, the god of war. The war god was wild and ungovernable, a god who glorified in strife for its own sake and revelled in slaughter. He was thought to gloat over the death and destruction he caused. He was typically accompanied by his two sons Deimos (Fear or Terror) and Phobos (Dismay or Flight from Fear).
    It is also a month in which particular reverence was shown to the spirits of deceased ancestors. This was a month devoted to fertility, both of men and women, and of the land.


Modern Date : February 12th Market Day

pridie Idus Februarias
Day before the Ides of February

    This is one of the dies nefasti (N), a day on which no legal action or public voting could take place. The dies nefasti of February were days of religious ceremony honoring the dead and heralding the rebirth of the Spring and its associated fertility.

    On this day the Greeks, and many Romans, would celebrate the Festival of Artemis, Goddess of the Moon. She had been known to the Romans as Luna from antiquity but came to be called Diana in her earthly manifestation as the Goddess of Hunting. Diana was often called Diana Lucifera, Diana the Bringer of Light. The Greeks knew her as Artemis, the twin sister of Apollo, and daughter of Zeus and Leto. She was born under Mount Cynthus in Delos and hence was also called Cynthia and Delia. She carried a bow and quiver like her brother, and was especially fond of music and dance. Diana was never conquered by love, and submitted to no man, hence she was the goddess of a "chaste" moon and, except for her family, tolerated only female companions. Her priestesses were all chaste and this festival was celebrated with daily music and dance until the kalends of June. The hunter Actaeon happened across her bathing one day and became the only man to ever see Diana naked. He paid with his life.
    February is a month sacred to the gods Mars (as Quirinus, or Romulus) and Juno, the wife of Jupiter. Juno (Hera) was the mother of Mars, called Ares by the Greeks, and sometimes Enyalius. Ares was often accompanied in his bloody campaigns by Enyo, the murderess goddess of war who was known as Bellona by the Romans. Ares paid no attention to which cause was right or wrong and was concerned only with where he could cause maximum carnage. The Romans held a milder, more honorable view of Mars, honoring him as the son of Zeus and the father of Romulus.
    February is also a month in which particular reverence was shown to the spirits of deceased ancestors. This was a month devoted to fertility, both of men and women, and of the land.


Modern Date : February 13th Market Day

Idus Februarias
The Parentalia

    This day (NP), is for special religious observance.

    The Parentalia was a celebratory period in which ancestors were honored. It lasted from February 13 through the 21st. The temples would all be closed during this period. Offerings of small amounts of wine, bread, a sprinling of salt, or flowers were made at the tombs.
    On this day the Fabii clan, fighting alone against the Veii for Rome, were ambushed and destroyed but for one boy.
    February is a month sacred to the gods Mars (as Quirinus, or Romulus) and Juno, the wife of Jupiter. It is also a month in which particular reverence was shown to the spirits of deceased ancestors. This was a month devoted to fertility, both of men and women, and of the land, and celebration of the coming Spring.
    Juno, also called Saturnia and known as Hera by the Greeks, was the daughter of Cronus (Saturn) and regarded as a paragon of motherly virtues. She was the divinity of sacred marriage and childbirth, and was prone to violent wrath at every violation of her marriage bed with Zeus.


Modern Date : February 14th Market Day

ante diem XVI Kalendas March
The Parentalia

    This is one of the dies nefasti (N), a day on which no legal action or public voting could take place. The dies nefasti of February were days of religious ceremony honoring the dead and heralding the rebirth of the Spring and its associated fertility.

    The Parentalia was a celebratory period in which ancestors were honored. It lasted from February 13 through the 21st. The temples would all be closed during this period. Offerings of small amounts of wine, bread, a sprinling of salt, or flowers were made at the tombs.
    February is a month sacred to the gods Mars (as Quirinus, or Romulus) and Juno, the wife of Jupiter. Juno (Hera) was the mother of Mars, called Ares by the Greeks, and sometimes Enyalius. Ares was often accompanied in his bloody campaigns by Enyo, the murderess goddess of war who was known as Bellona by the Romans. Ares paid no attention to which cause was right or wrong and was concerned only with where he could cause maximum carnage.The Romans held a milder, more honorable view of Mars, honoring him as the son of Zeus and the father of Romulus.
    February is also a month in which particular reverence was shown to the spirits of deceased ancestors. This was a month devoted to fertility, both of men and women, and of the land.


Modern Date : February 15th Market Day

The Lupercalia

    This day (NP), is for special religious observance.

    The Lupercalia is the ceremonial climax of the dies nefasti preceding this day. This was a time of purification and religious celebration. As with the rest of the month of February, the object of much of the ceremony was the remembrance and honor of deceased ancestors, as well as the celebration of fertility and the coming Spring. Luper relates to lupus, or the wolf which popular myth held had reared Romulus and Remus
    The rites of this day included the sacrifice of a goat or a dog at the cave-grotto known as the Lupercal. With the sacrificial blood wiped across their foreheads, the youth partaking in this ceremony would then run the circumference of the Palatine hill, perhaps about 5K, tracing the traditional route of the city boundary traced by Romulus the day he founded Rome. In the process, girls who approached the runners would be brushed or splattered with the februa, thongs of sacrificial goatskin, presumably bloody, symbolically blessing them with fertility. Red is the color of the day as it is with Valentine's Day, the day invented to replace the Lupercalia. Fertility and sexuality were likewise replaced with the puritanical pipedream of sexless Love.
    This was the day on which, in 44 BC, Mark Antony offered Julius Caesar the crown of Rome, which he refused.


Modern Date : February 16th Market Day

ante diem XIV Kalendas March
The Lupercalia

    This is one of then endotercisus (EN), on which mornings could be for voting and afternoons not, or vice-versa.

    The first half of the day, the morning, being dies fasti and belonging to the Lupercalia celebration, and the afternoon or evening being dies nefasti, and belonging to the Quirinalia. It is therefore a day sacred to both Mars, as Romulus, and Juno, the female counterpart of Jupiter. The celebration of both ancestors and fertility continued on this day.
    Juno, also called Saturnia and known as Hera by the Greeks, was the daughter of Cronus (Saturn) and regarded as a paragon of motherly virtues. She was the divinity of sacred marriage and childbirth, and was prone to violent wrath at every violation of her marriage bed with Zeus.



Modern Date : February 17th Market Day

The Quirinalia

    This day (NP), is for special religious observance.

    The Quirinalia is a holiday devoted to Mars, in the form known as Quirinus. This was not the warlike Mars, but an alter-ego embodied in the more father-like ancestral figure of Romulus. The celebration of the Quirinalia was a special devotion of the people who lived on one of seven hills of Rome still called by the same name today, the Quirinal.
    This day was also called the Fornicalia, or the Festival of Fornax, the god of ovens (fornicator).
    Quirinus is also identified closely with Lupercus (via Romulus). Juno, the female dual equivalent of Jupiter, is also closely connected with Mars through cult and myth, and this day is thereby sacred to them both.
    Juno, also called Saturnia and known as Hera by the Greeks, was the daughter of Cronus (Saturn) and regarded as a paragon of motherly virtues. She was the divinity of sacred marriage and childbirth, and was prone to violent wrath at every violation of her marriage bed with Zeus.



Modern Date : February 18th Market Day

ante diem XII Kalendas March
The Parentalia

    This is one of the dies comitiales (C), when committees of citizens could vote on political or criminal matters.

    February is a month sacred to the gods Mars (as Quirinus, or Romulus) and Juno, the wife of Jupiter. Juno (Hera, was the mother of Mars. Mars was known to the Greeks as Ares, the god of war. The war god was wild and ungovernable, a god who glorified in strife for its own sake and revelled in slaughter. He was thought to gloat over the death and destruction he caused. He was typically accompanied by his two sons Deimos (Fear or Terror) and Phobos (Dismay or Flight from Fear).
    It is also a month in which particular reverence was shown to the spirits of deceased ancestors. This was a month devoted to fertility, both of men and women, and of the land, and celebration of the coming Spring.
    The Parentalia continued this day, and was a celebratory period in which ancestors were honored. It lasted from February 13 through the 21st. The temples would all be closed during this period. Offerings of small (the dead need very little) amounts of wine, some bread crumbs, a sprinkling of salt, or flowers were made at the tombs.
    This was the 1st day of the 3rd month of the 13 month Druidic calendar. The sequent letter is N, symbolic of the tree Ash (or Nion).
    In Mesopotamia, the Zorastrians celebrated this day as Spenta Armaiti.


Modern Date : February 19th Market Day

ante diem XI Kalendas March
The Parentalia

    This is one of the dies comitiales (C), when committees of citizens could vote on political or criminal matters.

    February is a month sacred to the gods Mars (as Quirinus, or Romulus) and Juno, the wife of Jupiter. Juno (Hera) was the mother of Mars, called Ares by the Greeks, and sometimes Enyalius. Ares was often accompanied in his bloody campaigns by Enyo, the murderess goddess of war who was known as Bellona by the Romans.
    February is also a month in which particular reverence was shown to the spirits of deceased ancestors. This was a month devoted to fertility, both of men and women, and of the land, and celebration of the coming Spring.
    The Parentalia continued this day, and was a celebratory period in which ancestors were honored. It lasted from February 13 through the 21st. The temples would all be closed during this period. Offerings of small amounts of wine, bread, a sprinkling of salt, or flowers were made at the tombs.
    Albinus was defeated this day near Lyons in 197 AD, and committed suicide.
    On this day in 356 AD the emperor Constantius II ordered all pagan temples closed. This act gave tacit approval to the intolerant Christians to begin the persecution of the Religion of Nature, which lasted for centuries.


Modern Date : February 20th Market Day

ante diem X Kalendas March
The Parentalia

    This is one of the dies comitiales (C), when committees of citizens could vote on political or criminal matters.

    February is a month sacred to the gods Mars (as Quirinus, or Romulus) and Juno, the wife of Jupiter. It is also a month in which particular reverence was shown to the spirits of deceased ancestors. This was a month devoted to fertility, both of men and women, and of the land, and celebration of the coming Spring.
    The Parentalia continued this day, and was a celebratory period in which ancestors were honored. It lasted from February 13 through the 21st. The temples would all be closed during this period. Offerings of small amounts of wine, bread, a sprinkling of salt, or flowers were made at the tombs.


Modern Date : February 21st Market Day

The Feralia

    This is one of the dies fasti (F), on which legal actions are permitted.

    This is the last day of the Parentalia and the temples would be opened at noon.The Feralia is a religious holiday sacred to Jupiter, whose surname was Feretrius. On this day the ongoing celebrations forming part of the dies parentalis and the tempus religiosum came to a close.
    February is a month sacred to the gods Mars (as Quirinus, or Romulus) and Juno, the wife of Jupiter. Juno (Hera) was the mother of Mars, called Ares by the Greeks, and sometimes Enyalius. Ares was often accompanied in his bloody campaigns by Enyo, the murderess goddess of war who was known as Bellona by the Romans. Ares paid no attention to which cause was right or wrong and was concerned only with where he could cause maximum carnage. The Romans held a milder, more honorable view of Mars, honoring him as the son of Zeus and the father of Romulus.
    In Egypt, this was the Day of Nut. She was the goddess of the sky and the heavens. The Egyptians believed that the world had been created by a divine act of sex between the earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut. Of necessity, the goddess Nut was on top, while Geb reclined.



Modern Date : February 22nd Market Day

ante diem VIII Kalendas March
The Caristia

    This is one of the dies comitiales (C), when committees of citizens could vote on political or criminal matters.

    This day provided a one-day breather between the religious celebrations of the month and was called the cara cognatio, or Caristia, which means the day of grace or care but could be translated as "Family Love Day". On this day Roman fathers would pay special attention to their own families. This was a family thanksgiving celebration without any particular religious significance, which in that regard, is essentially the same as our own.



Modern Date : February 23rd Market Day

The Terminalia

    This day (NP), is for special religious observance.

    This day, the Terminalia, is the last day of the sacral year, or the annual cycle of religious holidays. Ovid says the rites of the Terminalia form the close of all others. The rites of the Terminalia included ceremonial renewal and mutual recognition of the boundary stone, the marker between properties. A garland would be laid on this marker by all parties to the land so divided. After kindling a fire, honey-cakes, fruits and wine would be offered and shared, and songs of praise to the god called Terminus would be sung. Terminus was considered to have the appearance of stone and was often honored with the placement of a large stone at the boundaries, much as farmers do today in various countries. With this feast, the year as a whole comes to an end, as the Roman new year began traditionally on March 1st.



Modern Date : February 24th Market Day

The Regifugium

    This is one of the dies nefasti (N), a day on which no legal action or public voting could take place.

    Little is known about this holiday except that it was a festival for men, not gods, and symbolized the end of the old year. The old Roman New Year began on March 1st (Mardi Gras or Carnival). Speculation suggests this was considered an unlucky day, or a taboo day for pursuing any kind of business, perhaps because the gods could not be consulted.
    According to the first Roman Calendar, this was one of the two days of the year when the rex sacrorum, or high priest, would appear in a public ceremony in the Forum. He would perform sacred rites and trumpets, the purified Tubilustrum, would be blown to herald his arrival in the Comitium.
    On this day in 138 AD, Antoninus was adopted as co-regent by Hadrian.
    February is sacred to Mars and to Juno, also called Saturnia. Known as Hera by the Greeks, she was the daughter of Cronus (Saturn) and regarded as a paragon of motherly virtues. She was the divinity of sacred marriage and childbirth, and was prone to violent wrath at every violation of her marriage bed with Zeus.



Modern Date : February 25th Market Day

ante diem V Kalendas March
Fifth Day to the Kalends of March

    This is one of the dies comitiales (C), when committees of citizens could vote on political or criminal matters.

    Being at the end of the original Roman year, and preceding New Year's Day on March 1st, made this and the following days especially representative of rebirth, renewal and full of the promise of the coming Spring.
    February is a month sacred to the gods Mars (as Quirinus, or Romulus) and Juno, the wife of Jupiter. Juno (Hera, was the mother of Mars. Mars was known to the Greeks as Ares, the god of war. The war god was wild and ungovernable, a god who glorified in strife for its own sake and revelled in slaughter. He was thought to gloat over the death and destruction he caused. He was typically accompanied by his two sons Deimos (Fear or Terror) and Phobos (Dismay or Flight from Fear).
    In Egypt, this day was the Festival of Nut, or Nut's birthday.Nut was the Egyptian goddess of the heavens.

Modern Date : February 26th Market Day

ante diem IV Kalendas March
Fourth Day to the Kalends of March

    This is one of then endotercisus (EN), on which mornings could be for voting and afternoons not, or vice-versa.

    Being at the end of the original Roman year, and preceding New Year's Day on March 1st, made this and the following days especially representative of rebirth, renewal and full of the promise of the coming Spring.
    February is a month sacred to the gods Mars (as Quirinus, or Romulus) and Juno, the wife of Jupiter. Juno (Hera, was the mother of Mars. Mars was known to the Greeks as Ares, the god of war. The war god was wild and ungovernable, a god who glorified in strife for its own sake and revelled in slaughter. He was thought to gloat over the death and destruction he caused.
    On this day in 364 AD Valentinian became the new emperor in Constantinople.
    Juno, also called Saturnia and known as Hera by the Greeks, was the daughter of Cronus (Saturn) and regarded as a paragon of motherly virtues. She was the divinity of sacred marriage and childbirth, and was prone to violent wrath at every violation of her marriage bed with Zeus.


Modern Date : February 27th Market Day

The Equirria
    This day (NP), is for special religious observance.

    This day had a religious and military significance, and rites were performed involving purification of the army. This day is sacred to Mars, as is the whole month of February. This is the first Equirria, the second being on March 14th. And again, being at the end of the original Roman year, and preceding New Year's Day on March 1st, made this and the following days especially representative of rebirth, renewal and full of the promise of the coming Spring.
    The famous horse races in honor of Mars were held on this day on the Campius Martius (the field of Mars). Romulus instituted this tradition to herald the beginning of the sacral year.
    This was the day the ancient Romans walked the city bounds in solemn procession and then gave sacrifice, followed by a public feast.
    The emperor Constantine was born at Naissus this day in 272 AD (or 273).
    February is a month sacred to the gods Mars (as Quirinus, or Romulus) and Juno, the wife of Jupiter. Juno (Hera, was the mother of Mars. Mars was known to the Greeks as Ares, the god of war.
    In 747 BCE the Babylonian king Nabonassor acceeded to the throne.
    On this day in 425 AD the Byzantine emperor Theodosius founded a University a Constantinople and gave the administration complete academic freedom.
    In Judea, the ancient Hebrews celebrated this day as the feast of Esther.


Modern Date : February 28th Market Day

pridie Kalendas March
Day Before the Kalends of March
    This is one of the dies comitiales (C), when committees of citizens could vote on political or criminal matters.

    Being at the end of the original Roman year, and preceding New Year's Day on March 1st, made this day especially representative of rebirth, renewal and full of the promise of the coming Spring. This evening would be the Roman equivalent of New Year's Eve.
    In the ancient Far East, this was held to be the day of conception of Buddha.


Mois de Mars