*Ø* Blogmanac April 21 | Romulus, Remus and Rome's origins


Palilia (or Parilia) festivals, ancient Rome
These are festivals celebrated on April 21 honouring Pales, the Roman god (later a goddess) of shepherds and their flocks. They're held on the anniversary of the day on which Romulus, the boy suckled (with his brother Remus) by a she-wolf, drew the first furrow at the foot of the hill, thus laying the foundations of Rome.

Sheepfolds were decorated with green branches on this day. Fires were kindled and animals driven through the smoke; milk and cakes were offered to the deity today.However, the Palilia, or Parilia, were held long before the foundation of Rome. They celebrated the beginning of Spring pasture, and were held to purify cattle, the herds and the herdsmen. Only later were they used to commemorate Romulus and Remus’s foundation of Rome. Then it became the Natalis urbis Romae in the calendars of Polemius Silvius and Philocalus.

Rome founded by a woman?
A fragment of writing rediscovered and embraced by growing numbers of Italians today, challenges the popular legend that Romulus was Rome's founder ...

This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today, including a lot about Romulus and the foundation of Rome, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.