Happy Floralia!

#bluebells #LightOaksPark #Floralia

🪷 Starting 27 April (28 April in the Imperial era) Romans celebrated the #Floralia festival of Flora, goddess of flowers, actors, sex workers, comedies, comic theatre. Make libations of milk and honey to Flora and #Antinous. See: https://antinousstars.blogspot.com/2023/04/we-joyously-celebrate-floralia.html Art: #MirandaBaggins.🪷

🪷 Starting 27 April (28 April in the Imperial era) Romans celebrated the #Floralia festival of Flora, goddess of flowers, actors, sex workers, comedies, comic theatre. Make libations of milk and honey to Flora and #Antinous. See: https://antinousstars.blogspot.com/2023/04/we-joyously-celebrate-floralia.html Art: #MirandaBaggins.🪷

🪷 Starting 27 April (28 April in the Imperial era) Romans celebrated the #Floralia festival of Flora, goddess of flowers, actors, sex workers, comedies, comic theatre. Make libations of milk and honey to Flora and #Antinous. See: https://antinousstars.blogspot.com/2023/04/we-joyously-celebrate-floralia.html Art: #MirandaBaggins.🪷

According to the satirist #Juvenal, Roman #sexworkers danced naked and fought in mock gladiator combat at the #Floralia. #Ovid says that hares and goats—animals considered fertile and very horny—were ceremonially released as part of the festivities.

#ancientRome #religioRomana

Our word #May derives from the Roman month Maius, named for the goddess Maia, the mother of Hermes-Mercurius. The Emperors Nero & Commodus tried to change the month's name to Claudius & Lucius respectively, but it didn't stick. The Romans celebrated the #Floralia April 28–May 3.
The Floralia opened with theatrical performances and concluded with competitive games and spectacles at the Circus and a sacrifice to #Flora, goddess of flowers, vegetation, and fertility.

#ancientRome #religioRomana