On This Day In Roman History, March 14
A Feriae Marti, sometimes called sacrum Mamurio, takes place in Rome as one of two different annual horse races on March 14. The other Equirria (horse race) takes place on February 27 and is comparable in its celebrations. The festival in its earliest days probably consisted of only horseback racing until technological advances for chariot racing caused the later to be more popular, and thus celebrated. These assumptions are based on the historical fact of an archaic festival called Consualia which is the well-documented festival Romulus organized in order to lure the Sabines into Rome. The event was held in honor of Mars and legend tells of its conception by Romulus. This is one of two festivals of this type that occur on even days, the other being the "Kings Flight" I discussed on February 24.
Did you know?
The German classical philologist Georg Otto August Wissowa pointed out several strong arguments for the celebration originally taking place on the 15th of March, but Romans changes its date because "of conflicts among religious events concentrated around this ritually fraught time". Other views suggest that this festival may have had a floating date sometime during this week, which would be selected on whichever day was most convenient. Originally this race marked the ritual end of the year and beginning of the new. This was no longer the case, however, after changes to the calendar marked January as the first month of the new year.
Pictured: Denarius depicting the helmeted head of Mars, with Victory driving a biga on the reverse. Issued 88 BC by Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Clodianus. Photo by Classical Numismatic Group, via Wikimedia Commons.
Today's quote is from the German scholar of comparative religion and classical philology, Jörg Rüpke: "The Equirria occurred between King's Flight and New Year, bridging the period of 'disorder': held immediately before the new moon, they prepared the way for the reestablishment of order with the new month and year."
Opinion
Welcome to my daily opinion! As always, most history involving Romulus and anything he founded is usually mythical. If one looks deeper into possible origins of such festivals, the ancient celebration of Consualia associated the act of horse or chariot racing with that of the underworld gods (di inferi). The Dutch scholar Hendrik Wagenvoort pointed out these things and drew the conclusions that the archaic Roman image of Mars "had been imagined as the god of death and the underworld in the shape of a horse." Pulling together conclusions from some of these more ancient speculations shows that the origins were probably rooted in a type of war festival and only celebrated into later antiquity in the form of religious tradition. I am signing off today and am excited for a big day tomorrow! See you on the Ides!
Sources
Rosenstein, N. S. (2010). A companion to the Roman republic. Malden, Mass.: Wiley-Blackwell.
Humphrey, J. H. (1986). Roman circuses: arenas for chariot racing. Berkeley: Univ. of Calif. Press.
Wagenvoort, H. (1978). Studies in Roman literature, culture, and religion. New York: Garland Pub.
Further Reading:
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