See below, p. 294 (Feriae Sementivae). The meaning of the _oscilla_ was not really known to the later Romans, who freely indulged in conjectures about them. Macrob. 1. 7. 34; Serv. _Georg._ 2. 389; Paul. 121. My own belief is that, like the _bullae_ of children, they were only one of the many means of averting evil influences. Footnote 356: See the passages of Livy quoted above, and add 40. 45 (on account of a storm); 41. 16 (a failure on the part of Lanuvium). Footnote 357: Macrob. 1. 16. 16 ‘Cum Latiar, hoc est Latinarum solemne concipitur, nefas est proelium sumere: quia nec Latinarum tempore, quo publice quondam indutiae inter populum Romanum Latinosque firmatae sunt, inchoari bellum decebat.’ Footnote 358: See under Sept. 13. Footnote 359: For the characteristics and meaning of the common sacrificial meal see especially Robertson Smith, _Religion of the Semites_, Lect. viii. Footnote 360: Helbig, _Die Italiker in der Poebene_, 71. Footnote 361: Robertson Smith, op. cit., 278 foll. Footnote 362: Cic. _pro Plancio_, 9. 23. MENSIS MAIUS. Was the name of this month taken from a deity Maia, or had it originally only a signification of _growing_ or _increasing_, such as we might expect in a word derived from the same root as _maior_, _maiestas_, &c.? The following passage of Macrobius will show how entirely the Roman scholars were at sea in their answer to this question[363]: ‘Maium Romulus tertium posuit. De cuius nomine inter auctores lata dissensio est. Nam Fulvius Nobilior in Fastis quos in aede Herculis Musarum posuit[364] Romulum dicit postquam populum in maiores iunioresque diuisit, ut altera pars consilio altera armis rem publicam tueretur, in honorem utriusque partis hunc Maium, sequentem Iunium mensem uocasse[365]. Sunt qui hunc mensem ad nostros fastos a Tusculanis transisse commemorent, apud quos nunc quoque uocatur deus Maius, qui est Iuppiter, a magnitudine scilicet ac maiestate dictus[366]. Cingius[367] mensem nominatum putat a Maia quam Vulcani dicit uxorem, argumentoque utitur quod flamen Vulcanalis Kalendis Maiis huic deae rem diuinam facit. Sed Piso uxorem Vulcani Maiestam non Maiam dicit uocari. Contendunt alii Maiam Mercurii matrem mensi nomen dedisse, hinc maxime probantes quod hoc mense mercatores omnes Maiae pariter Mercurioque sacrificant[368]. Adfirmant quidam, quibus Cornelius Labeo consentit, hanc Maiam cui mense Maio res diuina celebratur terram esse hoc adeptam nomen a magnitudine, sicut et Mater Magna in sacris uocatur adsertionemque aestimationis suae etiam hinc colligunt quod sus praegnans ei mactatur, quae hostia propria est terrae. Et Mercurium ideo illi in sacris adiungi dicunt quia uox nascenti homini terrae contactu datur, scimus autem Mercurium uocis et sermonis potentem. Auctor est Cornelius Labeo huic Maiae id est terrae aedem Kalendis Maiis dedicatam sub nomine Bonae Deae et eandem esse Bonam Deam et terram ex ipso ritu