"Quinquatrus", a festival of Minerva

Abstract

Modern scholars have generally interpreted the festivity of Quinquatrus as a celebration pertinent to Mars, as some ancient feriali certify the activity of Salii priests for 19 March. Actually, by numerous and evident clues, the Quinquatrus must be considered as a festival dedicated exclusively to Minerva, moreover, already since the archaic era: first of all, the dies natalis of the goddess is mentioned by different sources on this date; but, for the identification of the ownership of this festival, it is of decisive importance especially the lexical and etymological analysis of the noun Quinquatrus and the calendarial and mythological relationships that the festivity denotes. Therefore, we have to interpretate the concomitant presence of rituals of Salii during the celebrations dedicated to Minerva only as a clear testimony of the close connection between the cult of Mars and that of the goddess, in the first month of the archaic year.