Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/125

 FESTIVALS 115 public* 1 were either stativa), conceptivae, or imperative. The stativte were such as were observed regularly, each on a definite day ; the conceptivao were observed annually on days fixed by the authorities for the time being ; the imperativae were publicly appointed as occasion called for them. In the Augustan age the ferise stativa} were very numerous, as may be seen from what we possess of the Fasti of Ovid. The number was somewhat fluc tuating. Festivals frequently fell into desuetude or were revived, were increased or diminished, were shortened or prolonged at the will of the emperor, or under the caprice of the popular taste. Thus Augustus restored the Com- pitalia and Lupercalia ; while Marcus Antoninus in his turn found it expedient to diminish the number of holidays. The following is an enumeration of the stated festivals as given by Ovid and contemporary writers. The first day of January was observed somewhat as is the modern New Year s Day : clients sent presents to their patrons, slaves to their masters, friends and relations to one another. On the 9th the Agonalia were held, apparently in honour of Janus. On the llth the Carmentalia were kept as a half- holiday, but principally by women; so also on the 15th. On the 13th of February were the Faunalia, on the 15th the Lupercalia, on the 17th the Quirinalia, on the 18th the Feralia, on the 23d (at one time the last day of the Roman year) the Terminalia, on the 24th the Regifugium or Fugalca, and on the 27th the Equiria (of Mars). On the 1st of March were the Matronalia, on the 14th a repeti tion of the Equiria, on the 15th the festival of Anna Per- onna, on the 17th the Liberal ia or Agonalia, and from the 19th to the 23d the Quinquatria (of Minerva). On the 4th of April were the Megalesia (of Cybele), on the 12th the Cereal ia, on the 21st the Palilia, on the 23d the Vinalia, on the 25th the Robigalia, and on the 28th the Floralia. The 1st of May was the festival of the Lares Praestites ; on the 9th, llth, and 13th the Lemuria were celebrated; on the 12th the Ludi Martiales, and on the loth those of Mercury. June 5 was sacred to Semo Sancus ; the Vestalia occurred on the 9th, the Matralia on the llth, and the Quitiquatrus Minusculoe on the 13th. The Ludi Apolli- nares were on the 5th, and the Neptunalia on the 23d of July. On the 13th of August were the Nemoralia, in honour of Diana; on the 18th the Consualia, on the 19th the Vinalia Rustica, and on the 23d the Vidcanalia. The Ludi Magni, in honour of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, began on September 4. The Meditrinalia (new wine) were on the 1 1th of October, the Faunalia on the 13th, and the Equiria on the 15th. The Epulum Jovis was on 13th November. The December festivals were on the 5th Faunalia, and towards the close Opalia, Saturnalia, Lare?italia. The calendar as it stood at the Augustan age was known to contain many comparatively recent accessions, brought in under the influence of two &quot; closely allied powers, the foreign priest and the foreign cook&quot; (Mommsen). The Megalesia, for example, had been introduced 204 B.C. The Ludi Apollinares could not be traced further back than 208 B.C. The Floralia and Cerealia had not come in much earlier. Among the oldest feasts were undoubtedly the Lupercalia, in honour of Lupercus, the god of fertility; the Equiria, in honour of Mars ; the Palilia ; the great September festival ; and the Saturnalia. Among the feriaa conceptivas were the very ancient feriae Latins?, held in honour of Jupiter on the Alban Mount, and attended by all the higher magistrates and the whole body of the senate. The time of their celebration greatly de pended on the state of affairs at Home, as the consuls were not allowed to take the field until they had held the Latins?, 1 Feriaj privatoe, such as anniversaries of births, deaths, and the like, were observed by separate clans, families, or individuals. which were regarded as days of a sacred truce. The feriae sementivaa were held in the spring, and the Ambarvalia in autumn, both in honour of Ceres. The Paganalia of each pagus, and the Compitalia of each vicus were also concep tivae. Of feriu) imperativae, that is to say, festivals appointed by the senate, or magistrates, or higher priests to commemorate some great event or avert some threatened disaster, the best known is the Novendiale, which used to be celebrated as often as stones fell from heaven (Livy, xxi. 62, xxv. 7, &c.). In addition to all those already mentioned, there occasionally occurred ludi votivi, which were cele brated in fulfilment of a vow ; ludi funebres, sometimes given by private persons ; and ludi seculares, to celebrate certain periods marked off in the Etrusco-Roman religion. Feasts of the Jews. By Old Testament writers a festival or feast is generally called either 3D (compare the Arabic Hadj), from ^n, to rejoice, or &quot;IJflB, from &quot;IP*, to appoint. The words ri2K&amp;gt; and B^P N~|i?P are also occasionally used. In the Talmud the three principal feasts are called D v3&quot;!, after Exod. xxiii. 14. Of the Jewish feasts which are usually traced to a pre-Mosaic origin the most important and characteristic was the weekly Sabbath, but special im portance was also attached from a very early date to the lunar periods. It is probable that other festivals also, of a seasonal character, were observed (see Exod. v. 1). In common with most others, the Mosaic system of annual feasts groups itself readily around the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. In Lev. xxiii., where the list is most fully given, they seem to be arranged with a conscious reference to the sacred number seven (compare Numb, xxviii.). Those belonging to the vernal equinox are three in number ; a preparatory day, that of the Passover, leads up to the prin cipal festival, that of unleavened bread, which again is followed by an after-feast, that of Pentecost (see PASSOVER, PENTECOST). Those of the autumnal equinox are four; a preparatory day on the new moon of the seventh month (the Feast of Trumpets) is followed by a great day of rest, the day of Atonement (which, however, was hardly & festival in the stricter sense of the word), by the Feast of Taber nacles, and by a great concluding day (Lev. xxiii. 36 ; John vii. 37). If the feast of the Passover be excepted, it will be seen that all these celebrations or commemorations asso ciate themselves more readily with natural than with his torical events. 2 There was also a considerable number of post-Mosaic festivals, of which the principal were that of the Dedication (described in 1 Mace. iv. 52-59 ; comp. John x. 22) and that of Purim, the origin of which is given in the book of Esther (ix. 20 sq. ). It has probably no connexion with the Persian festival Furdigan (see ESTHER). 3 Earlier Christian Festivals. While making it abund antly manifest that Christ and His disciples observed the appointed Jewish feasts, the New Testament nowhere re cords the formal institution of any distinctively Christian festival. But we have unambiguous evidence of the actual observance, from a very early period, of the first day of the week as a holy day (John xx. 19, 26 ; 1 Cor. xvL 2 ; Acts xx. 7 ; Rev. i. 10). Pliny in his letter to Trajan describes the Christians of Bithynia as meeting for religious purposes on a set day ; that this day was Sunday is put beyond all reasonable doubt by such a passage as that in the Apology of Justin Martyr, where he says that &quot; on Sunday (rfj TOV 2 In the &quot;parallel&quot; passages, there is considerable variety in tlie designation and arrangement of these feasts. While Ex. xii. approxi mates most closely to Lev. xxiii. and Num. xxviii., Ex. xxiii. has stronger affinities with Dent. xvi. The relations of these passages are largely discussed by Graf, Die Geschichtlichen Biicher des A. T., pp. 34-41, and by other recent critics. 3 On the whole subject of Jewish festivals see Reland, Antiq. Hebr.; Knobel, Leviticus (c. 23) ; George, Die Judischen Feste ; Hupfeld, De primitiva fest. ap. Hebr. ratione; Ewald, Alterthiimer des Volkes Israel; Dillmann in Schenkel s Bibel-lexicm, art. &quot;Feste.&quot;