The Roman year was full of festivals (_feriæ_) set apart for religious uses. It was declared by the pontiffs a sin to do any common work on these days, but works of necessity were allowed. These festivals were for particular gods, in honor of great events in the history of Rome, or of rural occurrences, days of purification and atonement, family feasts, or feasts in honor of the dead. The old Roman calendar[288] was as carefully arranged as that of modern Rome. The day began at midnight. The following is a view of the Roman year in its relation to festivals:-- _January_. 1. Feast of _Janus_, the god of beginnings. 9. _Agonalia_. 11. _Carmentalia_. In honor of the nymph Carmenta, a woman's festival. 16. Dedication of the _Temple of Concord_. 31. Feast of the _Penates_. _February_. 1. Feast of _Juno Sospita_, the Savior: an old goddess. 13. _Faunalia_, dedicated to Faunus and the rural gods. 15. _Lupercalia_. Feast of fruitfulness. 17. _Fornacalia_. Feast of the oven goddess Fornax. 18 to 28. The _Februatio_, or feast of purification and atonement, and the _Feralia_, or feast of the dead. Februus was an old Etrurian god of the under-world. Also, the _Charistia_, a family festival for putting an end to quarrels among relations. 23. Feast of _Terminus_, god of boundaries. Boundary-stones anointed and crowned. _March_. 1. Feast of _Mars_. Also, the _Matronalia_. The Salii, priests of Mars, go their rounds, singing old hymns. 6. Feast of _Vesta_. 7. Feast of _Vejovis_ or _Vedius_, i.e. the boy Jupiter. 14. _Equiria_, or horse-races in honor of Mars. 15. Feast of _Anna-Perenna_, goddess of health. 17. _Liberalia_, Feast of Bacchus. Young men invested with the Toga-Virilis on this day. 19 to 23. Feast of _Minerva_, for five days. Offerings made to her by all mechanics, artists, and scholars. _April_. 1. Feast of _Venus_, to whom the month is sacred. 4. _Megalesia_. Feast of Cybele and Altys. It lasted six days, and was the Roman analogue of the feast of Ceres in Greece and of Isis in Egypt. 12. _Cerealia_. Feast of Ceres. Games in the circus. 15. _Fordicicia_. Feast of cows. 21. _Palililia_. Feast of Pales, and of the founding of Rome. 23. _Vinalia_. Feast of new wine. 25. _Robigalia_. Feast of the goddess of blight, Robigo. 28. _Floralia_. Feast of the goddess Flora; very licentious. _May_. 1. Feast of the _Bona Dea_, the good goddess; otherwise Maia, Ops, Tellus, or the Earth. This was the feast held by women secretly in the house of the pontiff. 9. _Lemuralia_. Feast of the departed spirits or ghosts. 12. Games to _Mars_. 23. _Tubilustria_, to consecrate wind instruments. _June_.