Feralia

Offerings at the tombs

Romans showed respect to their dead ancestors with humble tributes left beside grave monuments. Acceptable gifts included floral wreaths, scattered violet blossoms, loose grain, a pinch of salt, and bread dipped in wine. According to tradition recorded by the poet Ovid, Aeneas first brought these customs to Latium by pouring wine and placing flowers at his father Anchises' resting place. The dead required only these unpretentious tokens to remain at peace. If mortals neglected these duties, Roman lore warned that angry spirits would climb out of their burial plots to wail and wander through the streets until proper graveside honors were resumed.

Rules of public mourning

During Feralia, the entire community entered a state of mourning that paused ordinary civic and religious life. Marriages were strictly forbidden, and brides, mothers, and widows were instructed not to ignite their marriage torches. Worship of the gods ceased for the day. Temple entryways remained barred, altars stood without burning incense, and private hearth fires were extinguished. Civic officials took off their symbols of office to reflect the solemn mood. By stopping everyday ceremonies, the living devoted their full attention to appeasing the spirits of the underworld.

Rites for Tacita

Alongside family remembrances, private magical rites took place to honor Tacita, the mute goddess identified with the nymph Lara. Ovid recounted an elderly woman sitting among younger women to perform a protective binding spell. The woman placed three grains of incense under a threshold where a mouse lay buried, turned seven dark beans in her mouth, and roasted a pitch-coated fish head pierced by a bronze needle. This spell aimed to gag spiteful talk and protect young women from destructive gossip. In myth, Lara had lost her tongue for revealing Jupiter's secrets before bearing the twin Lares.

How Feralia is kept

On 21 February, Roman citizens visited the tombs of deceased relatives outside the city. Families laid simple gifts across the graves, scattering violet petals, sprinkling salt and grain, and leaving bread soaked in wine. Public affairs came to an abrupt halt: temples shut their doors, hearths went cold, magistrates set aside their official badges, and weddings were strictly barred. Meanwhile, women gathered to perform private domestic charms, such as roasting a bound fish head and casting beans, seeking the silent goddess Tacita's help to ward off malicious gossip.

When and where

Feralia fell on 21 February each year on the Roman calendar. It served as the concluding public day of Parentalia, a nine-day commemorative period for deceased relatives that began on 13 February.

The festival was celebrated throughout ancient Rome and the region of Latium. Rites took place at ancestral tombs outside town boundaries, inside domestic spaces, and around neighborhood intersections guarded by the twin Lares.

What Feralia means

Feralia reflected the Roman duty to appease the Manes, the spirits of the dead. Modest offerings acknowledged familial bonds across the divide between life and death, preventing restless ghosts from disturbing the community. The accompanying silence, sealed temples, and rites for the mute goddess Tacita underlined the need to quiet malicious speech and maintain cosmic peace between the living and the spirit realm.

Questions people ask about Feralia

See also

Eleusinian MysteriesSecret annual initiations in ancient Greece dedicated to Demeter and Persephone, promising a blessed afterlife.Translation of relicsThe ceremonial transfer of holy remains or relics to a new church or shrineHakafotCircling the synagogue platform with the Torah scrolls, at Sukkot and Simchat TorahAll Souls' DayA Christian observance on 2 November for prayer and remembrance of those who have died.

Good reading and sources

• Encyclopaedia BritannicaArticle

• Feralia on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-06.