#LatinForTheDay - 15 April

"Tertia post Veneris cum lux surrexerit Idus,
pontifices, forda sacra litate bove.
forda ferens bos est fecundaque, dicta ferendo:
hinc etiam fetus nomen habere putant."

Ovid Fasti 4.629-632

Image: Bas-relief from the Arch of Marcus Aurelius

& #39;When the third day has dawned after the Ides of Venus,
Pristes, sacrifice a pregnant cow.
A cow with calf and one that is fruitful, so called from & #39;ferendo& #39;,
For they think that fetus has the name from this.& #39;

This is Ovid& #39;s beginning to his description of the Fordicidia, a festival that honoured Tellus, the Goddess of the Earth. As such it is very much a fertility festival. For, as Ovid tells us...

"nunc gravidum pecus est, gravidae quoque semine
terrae:
Telluri plenae victima plena datur."

& #39;Now the cattle are heavy with young, the ground too is full of seed;
To fruitful Earth now are fruitful victims given.& #39;

(Fasti 4.635-636)

The extract at the head of this thread also serves as a good example of Ovid& #39;s interest in etymology, which frequently features in his descriptions of the Roman calendar.

#LatinForTheDay