- Sementivae
Infobox Holiday
holiday_name = Sementivae
type = Pagan
longtype = Pagan, Historical
caption =
observedby = Ancient Romans
begins =January 24
ends =January 26
date =February 2 Sementivae, also known as Feriae Sementivae or Sementina dies (in the country called Paganalia), was a Roman festival of sowing.
It was a type of "
feriae conceptivae " [or "conceptae"] . These free days were held every year, but not on certain or fixed days, the time being every year appointed by the magistrates or priests ("quotannis a magistratibus vel sacerdotibus concipiuntur", [Macrobius l. c.; Varro, "On the Latin Language in 25 Books," vi. 25, etc.; Festus s. v.).]It was held in honor of Ceres (the goddess of agriculture) and Tellus (Mother Earth). The initial half of the event was a festival in honor of
Tellus which ran fromJanuary 24 throughJanuary 26 . The festival honoring Ceres occurred one week later, startingFebruary 2 . The "Sementina dies" were kept in seed-time at Rome for the purpose of praying for a good crop; it lasted only for one day, which was fixed by the pontiffs. [Varro "On the Latin Language in 25 Books," vi. 26, "de Re Rustica," i. 2, init.;Ovid , "On the Roman Calendar," i. 658, etc.)] At the same time the Paganalia were observed in the country. [Merkel,Ovid , "On the Roman Calendar," p. clv.]Notes
References
* "This entry incorporates public domain text originally from" (eds. William Smith, LLD, William Wayte, G. E. Marindin), "Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities", Albemarle Street, London. John Murray. 1890.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.