The festival of  Fors Fortuna (June 24) was a rowdy affair. On the right bank of the Tiber, there there were several temples to the goddess of good fortune and prosperity. While some people made the pilgrimage on foot, Ovid describes flower-bedecked boats on the river carrying youthful revelers and tipplers to the festival about five miles outside of Rome.

Gardeners brought their vegetables and flowers to market on this day, and then sang solemn prayers to Fors Fortuna. The festival was especially celebrated by florists and other commmon folk. The poorer Romans and the servant class sought the blessings that more successful Romans already had.

On the Julian calendar, this day was the traditional Solstitium, the summer solstice, when the sun achieves its highest position in the sky. The solstice was not always known with precision by the Romans and was sometimes noted as the 23rd or the 26th, but was ultimately established as the 21st.