Terminalia was an ancient Roman festival in honor of the god Terminus, who presided over the borders. The festival of Terminalia was celebrated on March 1 or February 23 on the eve of the Regifugium. Terminalia was celebrated on the last day of the old Roman year, from which some take its name.
Terminalia, the end of the year in pre-Republic Rome
The statue of Terminus was only a stone or a post planted in the ground to distinguish properties. Its cult is said to have been instituted by Numa who ordered everyone to mark the boundaries of their landed property with stones to be dedicated to Jupiter Terminalis, and to which sacrifices were to be offered each year at the festival of Terminalia.
At the festival the owners of the neighbouring estates crowned the statue with garlands and erected a crude altar on which they offered corn, honeycombs and wine, and sacrificed a lamb or a suckling pig. They concluded by singing the praises of the god. The public festival in honour of this god was celebrated at the sixth milestone on the road to Laurentum, probably because this was originally the extent of the Roman territory in that direction.
The central terminus of Rome (to which all roads led) was the ancient sanctuary of the god on the Capitoline Hill. The temple of Jupiter, king of the gods, had to be built around it (with a hole in the ceiling because Terminus required open-air sacrifices) by the city's last king, Tarquinius Superbus, who had closed other sanctuaries on the site to make way for this prestigious project. But augurs had read in the flight patterns of birds that the god Terminus refused to be moved, which was seen as a sign of stability for the city.
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On this day, in ancient Rome (with the Republic) the last day of the year Terminalia took place. It was customary to make offerings and animal sacrifices in honor of Jupiter Terminus. #mythology #myth #legend #calendar #February 23 #terminalia #rome
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