Happy end of Quinquatria and Happy Tubilustrium greetings to you!
I did say that March was a busy month for festivals in Ancient
Rome! What you’ll find below are not the only versions available to read in
books and across the internet about the festivals of the Quinquatria and
Tubilustrium. Like the other festivals I’ve mentioned on this blog, over
time religious festival habits changed and the classical sources differ,
according to when they were written and what might have currently been more common.
Quinquatria
 |
Minerva, Simon Vouet 1590-1649
The Hermitage Museum |
Between the 19
th and 23
rd March was
the time of the
Quinquatria (sometimes named Quinquatrus), a festival
sacred to the
goddess
Minerva. Originally, it was likely to have also
celebrated the Spring Equinox, a time of rebirth, and may have celebrated the
fertility of women. The Quinquatria began on the fifth day after the ides of
March (middle of the month).
There is some doubt in ancient sources about the duration of
Quinquatria – Only one day? Or as many as five?
Varro, Festus, and Ovid quote different
celebration durations. However, Ancient Roman calendars only mark one day for
the festival.
Ovid wrote that it got the name Quinquatria because it
continued for five days. According to him no blood was shed on the first day,
but contests of gladiators took place on the following four days. Ovid’s
version is also that the festival commemorated the birthday of Minerva.
Festus wrote it was because the Minerva temple on the
Aventine was consecrated on that day.
Since the Quinquatria was sacred to Minerva, women may have
consulted fortune-tellers and diviners, in the belief that Minerva was guiding
their futures.
The Emperor Domitian (reign AD 81-96) celebrated the
Quinquatria quite spectacularly at his Alban villa, where a newly set-up collegium
(priest group) oversaw the celebrations. Domitian ordered shows of wild beasts.
Plays were performed, and there were contests of orators and poets.
The last day, the 23rd March, seems to have
been one of those ‘use it since it’s there already’ festival days.
The Tubilustrium Festival
 |
| Tubilustrium - Trajan's Column |
From the earliest times of Roman military strength, the
23rd
March was a day when the trumpets used for giving military commands, during practice regimes and in battle, were symbolically cleansed and purified. This ancient festival
was named the
Tubilustrium. Once the trumpets had undergone the official
ritual cleansing and purification process, it was a signal that all was ready
to begin the new military campaign season. It was a signal that once the spring
planting was over, the farmer/soldier would leave the land-tending to others,
and they would converge at a nominated place e.g. Rome. They were ready to resume an ongoing
battle with some other tribe, or country. Or, they were prepared to begin a new invasion
with their weapons all spick and span, and polished to the sharpest edges!
The October Armilustrium festival was the opposite to the
Tubilustrium. In mid-October, the earliest Ancient Roman armies symbolically
wiped-off their weapons and packed them away till the next Tubilustrium
festival, in the following month of March. In October, the men went back to their
homes and helped with any crop gathering that still needed to be done. They then
stayed home till the spring call to arms, the Tubilustrium. During that winter down-time
they ensured that their weapons/ kit (shields, knives etc) were renewed and
ready.
Since I write of the Roman Army invasions of northern
Britannia during the late 1st Century AD, the idea of how the legions celebrated any of
the military-oriented festivals is one which has preoccupied me, at times. There
were so many Roman festivals held annually, but any in honour of the god Mars,
or to do with military prowess and armaments must still have been very highly
regarded by the armies of Rome.
 |
| Minerva - Frans Dekker |
Some of the Britannic troops might well have had some free
time on military festival days, possibly drawn according to some form of roster
system. I’m sure that marking a day differently from another one was possible. Perhaps
there was a small ceremony officiated by the Camp Commander or the Primus Pilus
(first spear and highest ranking non-commissioned officer). Or maybe a Legionary
Legate conducted the ceremony to bolster troop morale. The actual ceremony and
duration of any festivities may well have depended on what size the fort or
fortress was and the stability of the area with regard to avenging local tribespeople (barbarians or semi-subdued).
There is spectacular evidence from Trimontium Roman Fort (Melrose,
Scotland) of military parade helmets. It’s thought that the helmets and masks would
have only been worn by the equestrian forces during ceremonies or special ‘shows’.
I like to think that the superb craftmanship of the masks and helmets were
shown off during a symbolic Tubilustrium, and other Mars festivals.
 |
1st C AD Parade Helmet- National Museum of Scotland
Found at Trimontium Fort, Melrose |
Since the Ancient Romans, and the army in general, were very guided on a day-to-day basis by religious beliefs then the Tubilustrium and other Mars festivals might have been extremely important for mental morale in Britannia.
I don’t think many of the auxiliary army units who occupied Britain in the 1st Century AD ever had the luxury of completely abandoning warfare in October, for a winter ‘down-time’. Tacitus, however, mentions that the legions tended to retreat from an occupied front line, to overwinter in a legionary base. That practice, to me, would have been very dependent on whether or not the local Iron Age tribes took ‘time-off’ from making any fort attacks during the winter season. There may only have been the possibility of removing the legionary soldiers to a fortress base if auxiliary troops were substituted to outposts if they were still manned.
 |
Copy display at Trimontium Museum, Melrose.
(Look behind the helmet peak and you'll see a photo of a
terracotta statuette of Minerva that was found at Trimontium) |
While on active campaign in Britannia, and sleeping under leather tents, I feel that celebrating any festivals would have been a solitary occupation. A quick prayer to the nominated god a few more times on that special day might have been the only recourse to the rank and file soldiers.
I hope you have enjoyed reading about my Fascinating Festivals!
Slàinte!
https://nancyjardine.blogspot.com/2019/04/a2zchallenge-m-is-for-minerva.html
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jan_Frans_Deckers,_Gehelmde_Minerva-_Minerve_casqu%C3%A9e,_KBS-FRB.jpg
