Roman spring festivals

In the old Roman calendar, March (Martius, the ‘month of Mars’) was the first month of the year. It is one of the few months to be named after a god, and March was dominated by festivals for Mars. (Interestingly, one of the festivals in March was the second Equirria on the 14th March: this was a Feriae Marti which was also called the Mamuralia or sacrum Mamuri. The Equirria were held on the 27th February and the 14th March and were festivals of chariot-racing or horse-racing, held in honour of Mars.)

In April (Aprilis), there were the spring festivals. On the 1st April, there was the Veneralia, the festival of Venus Verticordia, a particular aspect of the goddess of love, relating to love and marriage. On the 4th-10th April, the  Ludi Megalenses or Megalesia were held, the festival and games held in honour of the Magna Mater (‘great mother’) Cybele. On the 12th-19th April, the Cerialia or Ludi Cereri were held, the festival and games in honour of Ceres, the goddess of agriculture, grain crops, fertility and maternity. On the 14th April, there was the festival of Fordicidia, when a pregnant cow was offered to Tellus (the earth). On the 27th April-3rd May, the  Ludi Florales were held in honour of Flora, the goddess of flowers and the season of spring.

The Christian celebration of Easter is always held on the first Sunday after the full moon (the Paschal full moon) following the March equinox, and it has links with the Jewish Passover. It is suggested that the Easter festival was based on the ancient festival of the goddess Ishtar and, perhaps, the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre. Ishtar was the Babylonian ‘queen of heaven’, the mother goddess of love, fertility and war and an equivalent to Venus and Prosperpine, daughter of Ceres, whose return from the underworld brought spring to the earth.

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