AGONALIA
My birthday is coming up on January 9th, which is also the first Agonalia celebration of the year!From wikipedia:
In Ancient Roman religious tradition, Agonalia, or Agonia, was a festival celebrated several times a year, in honor of various divinities, such as Janus and Agonius, whom the Romans used to invoke upon their undertaking any business of importance. The word is derived either from Agonia, “a victim,” or from Agonium, “a festival.”
Its institution, like that of other religious rites and ceremonies, was attributed to Numa Pompilius. We learn from the ancient calendars that it was celebrated on the three following days: January 9, May 21, and December 11; to which we should probably add March 17, the day on which the Liberalia was celebrated, since this festival is also called Agonia or Agonium Martiale.
The object of this festival was a disputed point among the ancients themselves; but as Hartung has observed, when it is recollected that the victim which was offered was a ram, that the person who offered it was the rex sacrificulus, and that the place where it was offered was the regia, we shall not have much difficulty in understanding the significance of this festival. The ram was the usual victim presented to the guardian gods of the state, and the rex sacrificulus and the regia could be employed only for such ceremonies as were connected with the highest gods and affected the weal of the whole state. Regarding the sacrifice in this light, we see a reason for its being offered several times in the year.
