ancient Roman religion Religion in ancient Rome consisted of varying imperial and provincial religious practices, which were followed both by the Roman people, people of Rome as well as those who were brought under its rule. The Romans thought of themselves as high ...

, the Quinquatria or Quinquatrus was a

festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

sacred to the Goddess

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

, celebrated 19–23 March. According to

Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BCE) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Virgil and Cicero). He is sometimes call ...

, it was so called because it was held on the fifth (''quinqu-'') day after the Ides, in the same way as the Tusculans called a festival on the sixth day after the Ides ''Sexatrus'' or one on the seventh ''Septimatrus''. Both Varro and Festus state that the Quinquatrus was celebrated for only one day, but

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

says that it was celebrated for five days, hence the name: on the first day no blood was shed, but that on the last four there were contests of

gladiator A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...

s. The first day was the festival proper, and that the following four were an expansion made perhaps in the time of

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war. He ...

to gratify the people. The ancient Roman religious calendars assign only one day to the festival. Ovid says that this festival was celebrated in commemoration of the birthday of Minerva, but according to Festus it was sacred to Minerva because her temple on the Aventine was consecrated on that day. On the fifth day of the festival, according to Ovid, the trumpets used in sacred rites were purified; but this seems to have been originally a separate festival called Tubilustrium, which ancient calendars place on 23 March. When the celebration of Quinquatrus was extended to five days, the Tubilustrium would have fallen on the last day of that festival. As this festival was sacred to Minerva, it seems that women were accustomed to consult fortune-tellers and diviners upon this day.

Domitian Domitian ( ; ; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was Roman emperor from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavian dynasty. Described as "a r ...

caused it to be celebrated every year in his Alban villa, situated at the foot of the Alban hills, and instituted a ''

collegium A (: ) or college was any association in ancient Rome that Corporation, acted as a Legal person, legal entity. Such associations could be civil or religious. The word literally means "society", from ("colleague"). They functioned as social cl ...

'' to superintend the celebration, which consisted of shows of wild beasts, of the exhibition of plays, and of contests of orators and poets. There was also another festival of this name called ''Quinquatrus Minusculae'' or ''Quinquatrus Minores'', celebrated on the Ides of June, on which the '' tibicines'' went through the city in procession to the temple of Minerva.

Historical significance

At the Quinquatria in 59,

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

invited his mother,

Agrippina the Younger Julia Agrippina (6 November AD 15 – 23 March AD 59), also referred to as Agrippina the Younger, was Roman empress from AD 49 to 54, the fourth wife and niece of emperor Claudius, and the mother of Nero. Agrippina was one of the most prominent ...

, to his villa near

Baiae Baiae (; ) was an ancient Roman town situated on the northwest shore of the Gulf of Naples and now in the ''comune'' of Bacoli. It was a fashionable resort for centuries in antiquity, particularly towards the end of the Roman Republic, when i ...

in an attempt to assassinate her. His old tutor, Anicetus, whom he had raised to be captain of the fleet of

Misenum Miseno is one of the ''frazione, frazioni'' of the municipality of Bacoli in the Italy, Italian Province of Naples. Known in ancient Roman times as Misenum, it is the site of a great Roman port. Geography Nearby Cape Miseno marks the northw ...

, had undertaken to construct a vessel which could be sunk, without exciting suspicion. Agrippina landed at Bauli, between Baiae and Cape Misenum, and completed her journey in a

litter Litter consists of waste products that have been discarded incorrectly, without consent, at an unsuitable location. The waste is objects, often man-made, such as aluminum cans, paper cups, food wrappers, cardboard boxes or plastic bottles, but ...

. After the banquet, when night had fallen, she was induced to return to Bauli in the vessel which had been prepared for her destruction. But the mechanism did not work as planned, and Agrippina succeeded in swimming to shore, from which she proceeded to her villa on the Lucrine lake. Nero soon after succeeded in his goal, however, with further help from Anicetus.Bury, p 279.

References

Sources

* * *Bury, John Bagnell.
The Student's Roman Empire
'. Harper. 1893. {{Roman religion (festival) Ancient Roman festivals March observances Festivals of Athena Minerva