ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom ...

, the Parentalia () or ''dies parentales'' (, "ancestral days") was a nine-day festival held in honor of family ancestors, beginning on 13 February. Although the Parentalia was a holiday on the Roman religious calendar, its observances were mainly domestic and familial. The importance of the family to the Roman state, however, was expressed by public ceremonies on the opening day, the Ides of February, when a Vestal conducted a rite for the collective ''di parentes'' of Rome at the tomb of Tarpeia.

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Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom ...

describes sacred offerings (''sacrificia'') of flower-garlands, wheat, salt, wine-soaked bread and violets to the "shades of the dead" (''

Manes In ancient Roman religion, the ''Manes'' (, , ) or ''Di Manes'' are chthonic deities sometimes thought to represent souls of deceased loved ones. They were associated with the '' Lares'', '' Lemures,'' '' Genii'', and ''Di Penates'' as deities ( ...

'' or ''Di manes'') at family tombs, which were located outside Rome's sacred boundary ''( pomerium)''. These observances were meant to strengthen the mutual obligations and protective ties between the living and the dead, and were a lawful duty of the '' paterfamilias'' (head of the family). Parentalia concluded on 21 February in the midnight rites of

Feralia Ferālia was an ancient Roman public festival Dumézil, Georges. ''Archaic Roman Religion''. pg 366. celebrating the Manes (Roman spirits of the dead, particularly the souls of deceased individuals) which fell on 21 February as recorded by Ovi ...

, when the ''paterfamilias'' addressed the malevolent, destructive aspects of his ''Manes''. Feralia was a placation and exorcism: Ovid thought it a more rustic, primitive and ancient affair than the Parentalia itself. It appears to have functioned as a cleansing ritual for

Caristia In ancient Rome, the Caristia, also known as the Cara Cognatio, was an official but privately observed holiday on February 22, that celebrated love of family with banqueting and gifts. Families gathered to dine together and offer food and incense ...

on the following day, when the family held an informal banquet to celebrate the affectionate bonds between themselves and their benevolent ancestral dead ('' Lares''). The emphasis on collective cult for the Manes and early ''di parentes'' implies their afterlife as vague and lacking individuation. In later cult they are vested with personal qualities, and in Imperial cult, they acquire divine ''

numen Numen (plural numina) is a Latin term for " divinity", "divine presence", or "divine will." The Latin authors defined it as follows:For a more extensive account, refer to Cicero writes of a "divine mind" (''divina mens''), a god "whose numen ev ...

'' and become '' divi'', divine entities. From Parentalia to Caristia all temples were closed, marriages were forbidden, and "magistrates appeared without their insignia," an indication that no official business was conducted. William Warde Fowler describes the Parentalia as "practically a yearly renewal of the rite of burial". Individuals might also be commemorated on their birthday ''( dies natalis)''. Some would be commemorated throughout the year on marked days of the month, such as the Kalends, Nones or Ides, when lamps might be lit at the tomb. The

Lemuria Lemuria (), or Limuria, was a continent proposed in 1864 by zoologist Philip Sclater, theorized to have sunk beneath the Indian Ocean, later appropriated by occultists in supposed accounts of human origins. The theory was discredited with the d ...

on 9, 11 and 13 May was aimed at appeasing "kinless and hungry" spirits of the dead.Toynbee, "Death and Burial in the Roman World,'' p. 64.

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{{Roman religion (festival) Ancient Roman festivals Death in ancient Rome Observances honoring the dead Religion and death February observances

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