In ancient Rome, a festival called the Parilia was celebrated on this date. 10 facts about this festival:
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It was in honour of Pales, the deity of shepherds, flocks and livestock.
Pales was worshipped by rural communities in Italy but as Rome grew larger more powerful, so did the cult of Pales as the protection of crops and livestock became even more important.
The Parilla also happens to fall on the date generally accepted as the founding of Rome.
Celebrations and rituals on this festival included the cleansing and purification of Cow stalls and Sheep pens; shepherds asking forgiveness for any violations of holy places their animals might have committed; cattle being driven through bonfires. Humans jumped through bonfires as well.
The Vestal Virgins played a vital part in the proceedings, opening the festival by distributing straw, ashes and the blood of sacrificed animals. Offerings of food were made, and the whole thing ended with an al fresco feast.
Marcus Atilius Regulus built a temple to Pales in Rome following his victory over the Salentini in 267 BC. It might have been on the Palatine Hill, or possibly on the Campus Martius or the Aventine Hill as was the norm for victory monuments.
Nobody is quite sure whether Pales is male, female, or a hermaphrodite, although the latter wasn’t really a concept the Ancient Romans got into.
Another possibility is that Pales was a set of Twins, perhaps linked to the Palici brothers of Sicily. Twins are closely associated with Rome, the anniversary of which was also being celebrated.
Pales is often depicted as a handsome young man (or woman) carrying a shepherd’s crook, surrounded by sheep and other livestock.
A little known story suggests that Pales and Vesta were once lovers and that Pales appeared to her as a Donkey. Hence Pales may be the inspiration for the donkey-headed character Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
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