Roman Holidays & Festivals Illustration

Roman Holidays
& Festivals


To honor their gods the Romans gave festivals.  There were so many gods that it seemed like there was a festival almost every night.  In the course of these festivals some customs have come down through the ages that we still use today.  For example:

We celebrate Valentine's Day.  The Romans had a festival called Lupercalia that honored Venus the Goddess of Love.  Venus had a son Cupid who went around spreading love between couples.  It was considered lucky to get married or engaged during Lupercalia.  For a short time, the Romans even tried to match make on this day by having young people pull names out of a hat to become their husband or wife.

Some scholars credit the Romans with inventing the May Day pole.  Like many other ancient people, the Romans celebrated the beginning of summer on May 1st or May day.

Like most ancient people, the Romans celebrated the middle of winter.  They saw this as the beginning of a new cycle of growth.  The middle of winter meant that soon spring would be here and things would start to grow again.  Around the 25th of December, the Romans gave gifts and decorated their homes with greenery.  Sound familiar?

Roman Holidays & Festivals

Valentine's Day

May Day

Christmas & Other Holidays

Roman Weddings

Roman Myths

Roman Gods and Goddesses

Ancient Rome Q&A Interactive