Feriae Sementivae. Paganalia1311
Under date of Jan. 24-26, Ovid1312 writes in charming verse of the feriae conceptivae called Sementivae (or -tinae), which from his account would seem to be identical with the so-called Paganalia1313. Just as the Compitalia of the city probably had its origin in the country (see on Jan. 3-5), though the rustic compita were almost unknown to the later Romans, so the festival of sowing was kept up in the city (‘a pontificibus dictus,’ Varro, L. L. 6. 26) as Sementinae, long after the Roman population had ceased to sow. In the country it was known—so we may guess—by the less technical name of Paganalia1314, as being celebrated by the rural group of homesteads known as the pagus.
As to the object and nature of the festival, let Ovid speak for himself:
State coronati plenum ad praesaepe iuvenei:
Cum tepido vestrum vere redibit opus.
Rusticus emeritum palo suspendat aratrum1315:
Omne reformidat frigida volnus humus.
Vilice, da requiem terrae, semente peracta:
Da requiem terram qui coluere viris.
Pagus agat festum: pagum lustrate, coloni,
Et date paganis annua liba focis.
Placentur frugum matres, Tellusque Ceresque,
Farre suo, gravidae visceribusque suis.
Officium commune Ceres et Terra tuentur:
Haec praebet causam frugibus, illa locum.
Ceres and Tellus, ‘consortes operis,’ are to be invoked to bring to maturity the seed sown in the autumn, by preserving it from all pests and hurtful things; and also to assist the sower in his work in the spring that is at hand. This at least is how I understand the lines (681, 682):
Cum serimus, caelum ventis aperite serenis;
Cum latet, aetheria spargite semen aqua.
Or if it be argued that both these lines may very well refer to the spring, it is at least certain that the poet understood the festival to cover the past autumn sowing:
Utque dies incerta sacro, sic tempora certa,
Seminibus iactis est ubi fetus ager1316.
Varro tells us1317 that the time of the autumn sowing extended from the equinox to the winter solstice; after which, as we have seen, the husbandmen rested from their labours in the fields, and enjoyed the festivals we have been discussing since Dec. 17 (Consualia). The last of these is the Paganalia, i. e. the one nearest in date, if we may go by Ovid, to the time for setting to work at the spring sowing, which began on or about Feb. 7 (Favonius).1318 It would thus be quite natural that this festival should have reference not only to the seed already in the ground, but also to that which was still to be sown. If Ovid lays stress on the former, Varro and Lydus seem to be thinking chiefly of the latter1319.
Ovid has told us what was the nature of the rites. According to him, Ceres and Tellus were the deities concerned, and with this Lydus agrees. We need not be too certain about the names1320, considering the ‘fluidity’ and impersonality of early Roman numina of this type; but the type itself is obvious. There were offerings of cake, and a sacrifice of a pregnant sow; the oxen which had served in the ploughing were decorated with garlands; prayers were offered for the protection of the seed from bird and beast and disease. If we may believe a note of Probus’1321, oscilla were hung from the trees, as at the Latin festival, &c., doubtless as a charm against evil influences.