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The month of May was named for Maia, the mother of Mercury. Not surprisingly, both were honored at the Mercuralia (May 15), considered to be Mercury's birthday.
The Lemuria (May 9, 11, 13) was one of several Roman festivals of the dead, but compared with the mild rituals of the Parentalia, Feralia, and Caristia, held in February, the Lemuria was a fearsome affair when ghosts walked around and had to be propitiated. Ovid records the private rites, but little is known of the public cult or the sacrifice offered.
The Rosalia (May 23) was a festival during which the Romans decorated tombs with wreaths and garlands of roses. (The Romans saw roses as a symbol of death and rebirth, and they often planted them on graves.) A list of military religious festivals, or feriale duranum, includes the Rosaliae Signorum in which the regimental standards were decorated with wreaths of roses.
The Ambarvalia (May 29) was a festival that was held to purify the fields before the sickle was put to the grain.
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Here are details about some of the other Roman festivals that are celebrated this month.
A calendar for
The Roman Month of Maius shows various festivals and other notable dates, like the Agonalia (May 21) and the formal dismissal of the Comitia: Q.R.C.F. (May 24).