- 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.
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