strenae
strenae
- J. Linderski
Extract
Strenae, originally the luck-bringing (mostly laurel) twigs (from the grove of the goddess Strenia), also figs, honey-cakes, and dates; later any gifts, lamps, coins, and even gold, exchanged by the Romans (and accompanied by good wishes) on New Year's Day. In the case of the houses of the *rex sacrorum and the major *flamines, the temple of Vesta, and the curiae (see curia (1)), the laurel branches were placed there on 1 March, the old New Year (FestusGloss. Lat. 408; Ov.Fast. 1. 175–226; 3. 137–42; Suet.Aug. 57; Tib. 34; Mart. 8. 33; 13. 27; Macrob.Sat. 1. 12. 6; Symm., Relat. 7, 15; Lydus, Mens. 4. 4; ILS 7214). Hence the meaning of strena as ‘good omen’ (already in Plautus). The custom was (unsuccessfully) combated by the Church (cf. August; Serm. 198. 2).
Subjects
- Roman Myth and Religion
