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This is the festival to the Roman Goddess Ceres of agriculture. She came to Rome from Greek sources in B.C. 496, on the occasion of a drought, that the Sibylline Books ordered the introduction of the worship of the Goddess. The Religio was so Greek in style that in 409 B. C. that it's building style and lettering was all in Greek language by Greek artists.

The services of the goddess, founded on the Greek myth of Demeter and Persephon�, was performed in the Greek tongue by Italian women of Greek extraction. The worshippers of the goddess were almost exclusively plebeian. Her temple was placed under the care of the plebeian aediles, which, as overseers of the corn market, and had their official residence in or near
the temple of Ceres.

Just as the patricians entertained each other with mutual hospitalities at the Megalesian Games (April 4-10), so did the plebeians at the Cerealia, or games introduced at the founding of the Temple of Ceres. Those held in later times were given by the aediles from the 12th to the 19th of April, and another festival to Ceres, held in August, was established before the Second Punic War.

This was celebrated by women in honor of the reunion of Ceres and Proserpina. After fasting for nine days, the women, clothed in white, and adorned with crowns of ripe ears of corn, and running about with lighted torches (Ov. Fast. iv.494) offered to the goddess the first-fruits of the harvest.

The Cerialia or Cerealia was the most important festivity celebrated in Rome to honour Ceres. In these days people dressed in white, as an expression of their happiness for Proserpine�s return to Ceres�s side, and it was customary to carry pine torches on the street. Even two pines were ritually set alight by night to �light up� Ceres in Her search for Proserpine. It was forbidden to have sexual relations since a day before the beginning of the feasts and until their end.

Another rite of this day was to give three turns around the fields with a sow, sacriycing it to Ceres after that. Ovid says that flour and salt can be sacrified to the Goddess on the lararium�s fire (focus), as well as incense or pine branches impregnated in resin. Virgilio adds milk, honey and wine among possible offerings.

During its continuance, games were celebrated in the Circus Maximus (Tacit. Ann. xv.53), the spectators of which appeared in white (Ov. Fast. iv.620); but on any occasion of public mourning the games and festivals were not celebrated at all, as the matrons could not
appear at them except in white (Liv. xxii.56, xxxiv.6). (I thank the Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898) and A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, John Murray, London,1875. The background image that is being used on this whole site came from a page in the Perseus Project, and we thank them a lot).

On a personal note: This celebration shows us why Rome found this so important. Just as Egypt had it�s method for dealing with their droughts, Rome developed her response to droughts, by introducing Ceres to protect them. The Romans saw her as the Goddess who ensured their future by protecting their food staple, grains. The festival and related fast in the fall were to honor her, and ensure they would be able to harvest. Let us honor her with our games, and let us find the time to make this a time of living together IN PEACE AND HARMONY, leaving behind our anger. Let us see this as a time where we look together for new ways to help our Nova Roman relationships grow. Let us leave behind petty jealousies, hatred, mean-spiritedness, and distrust.

Let us celebrate together our fifth year as a nation! Let us rejoice in the Spring, and the new colors that are exploding all around us! May we too feel uplifted and happy, and let us see this Ludi as an opportunity to rejoice together!

Hadrianus Rutilius Barbatus and Publis Tarquitius Rufus