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February 27 , 2008
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Happy Equirria!
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Posted at 11:00 EST
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Today is the Roman festival of the First Equirria, when horse races were held on the Campius Martius in honor of Mars, and priests purified the Roman army through certain rites in an effort to boost public and military morale. There was a Second Equirria on March 14th, and together they flanked the Festival of Mars.
Once again, Senex Caeilius, our resident expert on the lesser known Roman festivals, has some information and a double-dactyl verse about The Equirria at his site here :) |
October 11 , 2007
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MEDITRINALIA
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Posted at 10:00 EST
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October 11 marks the the minor festival of Meditrinalia, in honor of the new wine vintage. I am indebted to the Vinalia Urbana article on Senex Caecilius's excellent website for making me aware of this, and my dear friend and cousin Spurius for reminding me of the date! I think it sounds like an excellent excuse for a little wine-tasting party (as if we need one! *laughs*) so all friends, guests and hangers-on are invited to taste the new vintages of the Vinea Falerna!
If you've enjoyed the wine, please feel free to take home a souvenir from my estate:
image 127050
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September 9 , 2007
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Any excuses for a wine-tasting
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Posted at 10:00 EST
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VINALIA. There were two festivals of this name celebrated by the Romans: the Vinalia urbana or priora, and the Vinalia rustica or altera. The vinalia urbana were celebrated on the 23rd of April (IX. Calend. Mai.). This festival answered to the Greek πιθοιγία, as on this occasion the wine casks which had been filled the preceding autumn were opened for the first time, and the wine tasted (Plin. H. N. XVIII.69 s3). But before men actually tasted the new wine, a libation was offered to Jupiter (Festus, s.v. Vinalia), which was called calpar (Festus, s.v. Calpar).
The rustic vinalia, which fell on the 19th of August (XIV. Calend. Sept.) and was celebrated by the inhabitants of all Latium, would the day on which the vintage was opened. On this occasion the flamen dialis offered lambs to Jupiter, and while the flesh of the victims lay on the altar, he broke with his own hands a bunch of grapes from a vine, and by this act he, as it were, opened the vintage (vindemiam auspicari; Varro, de Ling. Lat. VI.20), and no must was allowed to be conveyed into the city until this solemnity was performed (Plin. H. N XVIII.69 §4). This day was sacred to Jupiter, and Venus too appears to have had a share in it (Varro, l.c.; de Re Rust. I.1; Macrob. Sat. I.4; Ovid, Fast. IV.897, &c.). An account of the story which was believed to have given rise to the celebration of this festival is given by Festus, (s.v. Rustica vinalia) and Ovid ( Fast. IV.863, &c.; compare Aurel. Vict. de Orig. Gent. Rom. 15).
[Above text from: William Smith's A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, John Murray, London, 1875.]
There is a great little article here on the Vinalia festivals from Senex Caecilius's website: Vinalia Urbana
I've missed the two Vinalia festivals for this year, but in his article Senex also mentions the minor festival of Meditrinalia, which took place on October 11 in honor of the new vintage. I think this sounds like an excellent excuse for a little wine-tasting party at the Vinea Falerna!
MEDITRINALIA was one of the festivals connected with the cultivation of the vineyards. It took place on the eleventh of October, on which day the people of Latium began to taste their new wine (mustum), and to offer libations of it to the gods. In drinking the new wine it was customary to pronounce the words: "vetus novum vinum bibo, novo veteri morbo medeor." (Varro, de Ling. Lat. VI.21; Festus, s.v. Meditrinalia). Varro derives the name of the festival from the healing power of the new wine, but Festus speaks of a goddess Meditrina. [From: William Smith, as above] |
August 11 , 2007
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Open Vineyard
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Posted at 15:00 EST
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The Vinea Falerna is now ready for visitors, I think - although I'm sure I'll be tweaking it for ages yet!
It's the first time I've actually built a home dedicated to a real purpose, but I got inspired by seeing what other people have done, specifically Sextus Furius Maximus's Volturnas Oils business, Laurin Lucretius's Campanian Olive Grove, the whole of Senex Caecilius's Macellum, and indeed many other imaginative enterprises I've stumbled across in Rome and elsewhere.
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