Equirria


Equirria

February 27 and March 14Tradition holds that Romulus, one of the mythical founders of Rome, began the Equirria. This festival was held on both February 27 and March 14. The Equirria mainly involved racing horses and was dedicated to Mars, the Roman god of war. Scholars don't know why there were two annual Equirrias little more than two weeks apart from each other, but one theory is that these were occasions to publicly begin training horses and men for the military excursions Roman soldiers undertook in the spring. There is also a question of whether the later Equirria was related to the Mamuralia, also observed on March 14.
SOURCES:
DictRomRel-1996, p. 69
FestRom-1981, p. 82
RomFest-1925, p. 44
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