On This Day In Roman History, February 1
The dies natalis for the Temple of Juno Sospita takes place on February 1. This festival was celebrated at the Grove of Alernus, near the Tiber at the foot of the Palatine Hill. Alernus, which may also be known as Elernus or Helernus, is mentioned only by the Roman poet Publius Ovidius Naso (more commonly known as Ovid). Alernus' lucus, or sacred grove, was located near the Tiber River. This grove was the mythological birthplace of the nymph Cranea. Ovid combines this nymph with another archaic goddess by the name of Cardea, whom he recognized as having congruent traditions. At the time of Ovid's writing about her, the obscurity of both Cardea and Cranea were recognized, however priests still carried out sacrifices here regularly at the time of Augustus. Alernus may have been a chthonic god, due to the association of the sacrificial animal being a black ox.
Did you know?
Cardea was the ancient Roman goddess of the door hinge. Romans used a type of pivot hinge still commonly found in use today, and several preserved Roman hinges exist within museums and ruins. Cardea was often associated with two other minor gods known as Forculus, from the Latin fores (door) and Limentinus, from the Latin limen (threshold). Christian writers like St. Augustine mock the observed weakness and triviality of these gods stating "evidently Forculus can't watch the hinge and the threshold at the same time."
Pictured: Front panel of a sarcophagus representing the four seasons. Note the Roman double-doorway representing the entrance to the afterlife. Marble, Roman artwork, middle of the 3rd century CE. Image by: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT, via Wikimedia Commons.
Ovid can be quoted writing about Alernus, saying: "the pontiffs still bring sacrifices thither. There a nymph was born (men of old named her Cranaë), often wooed in vain by many suitors. Her wont it was to scour the countryside and chase the wild beasts with her darts, and in the hollow vale to stretch the knotty nets. No quiver had she, yet they thought that she was Phoebus’ sister; and, Phoebus, thou needst not have been ashamed of her.
Opinion
Welcome to my daily opinion! The more outdated relics of Roman paganism like that of this holiday were apparent to Ovid at the time of Augustus. It is interesting to see these priests still preforming the ancient tradition as a duty to a festival that was already basically defunct. These types of religious traditions still happen today, in the sense that a dated and strange tradition is followed for the sake of religious custom or habit. Also, I am happy for the sake of trivia I now know the Roman goddess of the door hinge.
Sources
Fowler, W. W. (1899). The Roman festivals of the period of the Republic; an introduction to the study of the religion of the Romans. London: Macmillan and Co.
Morford, M. P., & Lenardon, R. J. (1999). Classical mythology. New York: Oxford University Press.
O., Showerman, G., Miller, F. J., & Goold, G. P. (1977). Ovid. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Further Reading
Special Thanks: Michael Houghan
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