Bonam Quirinaliam et Bonam Fornacaliam!

The 17th of February is the festival of Quirinus. Nobody knows exactly what Quirinus did, but he was apparently indiginous to the area of Rome (not brought in by the Greeks or Etruscans). He was possibly a peaceful version of Mars (the Romans liked to double their deities; for example, Juppiter's double was Veiovis, who is another obscure god). By the 3rd century BCE Quirinus had been assimilated into Romulus (so Quirinus became another name for Romulus).

The Fornacalia is not necessarily on the 17th, but is a movable feast. This is the Festival of Fornax, another obscure goddess; Fornax was the goddess of ovens. (Coincidentally, my landlord is installing a new oven in my apartment on Friday. Thanks, Fornax!) On this day, rituals (the details of which are lost in time) were performed either to keep Fornax happy, or for the benefit of the ovens.

In the center of the image is an oven in Pompeii. The cylinder thingies were used for grinding grain.

Roman Marriage

The relief depicts a Roman wedding: the scene is the joining of right hands. The woman in the middle is the pronuba (like Juno). Do you think the sculptor made the couple's faces expressive of something, even if not an emotion? Maybe an ideal mindset --- the ideal of whatever brides and grooms were supposed to be thinking? I can't say.

Take a look at this reenactment. I think the bride could have used sunglasses!

But this, on the other hand, is not a reenactment!

I apologize that this source for info on Roman marriage is old (1875!), but at least it's thorough. The article opens with an overview of the legal aspects and types of Roman marriage, and the last third or so is a generalized reconstruction of a marriage ceremony (that part's the most interesting reading). Make sure you note the second-to-last paragraph (which is a disclaimer, to the effect that the author is making educated guesses).