Roman goddess of the Spring, flowers, fertility…Mention Flora and a person tends to immediately conjure images of nymphs dancing in the wooded clearings and heads wreathed in Spring-time blooms. Goddess of springtime beauty and innocence. The May Day scene from Camelot comes easily to mind. So who was Flora really?
Harbinger of Spring and the personification of flowers, Flora possessed one of the oldest cults in Rome. She was even one of the few deities to have her own major priest, or flamen, plus a minor temple in the northwest corner of the Quirinalis, near the Circus Maximus. There were two festivals to our goddess: the Floralia, discussed below, and another on 13 August, probably connected to some late flowering harvest produce.
However, there was more to our goddess than just Nature’s beauty, for without that beauty there could be no harvest. Trees must flower to produce fruit. Wheat must flower. Flora is more than just a flower blooming; she also represents the reproductive, or fertile, potential that the flower’s bloom represents. She is the awakening sexuality found in every adolescent. And she was vital to the continuation of the Roman Empire. Without Flora there would be no new citizens, or no food.
A famine hit Rome in 283 BC, prompting the city’s leaders to consult with the Sibylline Books. As a result a temple was built on the Aventine Hill, near the Circus Maximus and on 27 (or 28, depending on the calendar) April the temple was dedicated to Flora.
Originally a moveable festival, the Floralia now became associated with the date of the new temple’s dedication. However, its observance was intermittent until 173 BC, when it became a yearly celebration.
By the time of Rome’s empire period the Floralia lasted from 27 April until 3 May. It was a wild time, with performances in the theater, circus games, and finally ending with a sacrifice to Flora. Those little machines of reproduction, bunnies and goats were let loose as part of the circus games. Vetches, a relative of the common garden pea, as well as beans and lupins were tossed at the crowds in an effort to make their springtime desire flower.
Our dear, beautiful Flora also came to be considered the patron goddess of prostitutes, who came to view the Floralia as their own special festival. Many of the celebration’s events ran late into the night, so it is not really difficult to see how the association came about. Stripteases were quite common, especially on the last day, when almost any woman in attendance would be harassed to “take it off”. You know, reading back over this all, it sounds a bit like Mardi Gras celebrations the world over. There really is little that’s new under the sun!
So how does one bring the beauty, fertile potential of Flora, into their own lives? Flowers, flower, flowers. Planting flowers that are also edible would be appropriate, as would planting flowering vegetables. Dishes containing beans or peas could be served at a special meal. Perhaps wearing bright colors, which participants in the ancient Floralia wore, would be enough to commemorate the day. And of course, talking a walk, or simply sitting, and contemplating the flowers is a wonderful day to think of, and thank, Flora.
Bibliography:
Ogilvie, R. M. The Romans and Their Gods: In the Age of Augustus. London: Chatto and Windus, 1969.
Turcan, Robert. The Gods of Ancient Rome: Religion in Everyday Life from Archaic to Imperial Times. New York: Routledge, 2000. (Translated by Antonia Nevill.)
Adkins,
Leslie, and Roy A. Adkins. Dictionary of Roman Religion. New York:
Facts On File, Inc. 1996.
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Originally
composed 10 July 2000.
Copyright
Laurel Reufner,2000. Comments? Email me!