Flora is the Roman Goddess (She's called Chloris in Greek lore) of flowering plants, especially those
that bear fruit. Spring, of course, is Her season, and She has elements of a
Love-Goddess, with its attendant attributes of fertility, sex, and blossoming.
She is quite ancient; the Sabines are said to have named a month for Her (which
corresponds to our and the Roman April), and She was known among the Samnites
as well as the Oscans, where She was called Flusia. She was originally the Goddess
specifically of the flowering crops, such as the grain or fruit-trees, and Her
function was to make the grain, vegetables and trees bloom so that autumn's
harvest would be good. She was invoked to avert rust, a nasty fungal disease
of plants that causes orange growths the exact color of rusting iron, and which
was (is) an especial problem affecting wheat. Hers is the beginning of the process
that finds its completion with Pomona, the
Goddess of Fruit and the Harvest; and like Pomona, Flora had Her own flamen,
one of a small number of priests each in service to a specific Deity. The flamens
were said to have been instituted by Numa, the legendary second King of Rome
who succeeded Romulus; and whether Numa really existed or not, the flamens were
undoubtedly of ancient origin, as were the Deities they served.
In later times Flora became the Goddess of all flowering plants,
including the ornamental varieties. Her name is related to Latin floris,
meaning naturally enough "a flower", with the additional meaning of
"[something] in its prime"; other related words have meanings like
"prospering", "flourishing", "abounding", and
"fresh or blooming". In one story, Flora was said to have provided
Juno with a magic flower that would allow Her to conceive with no help from
a man; from this virgin-birth Mars was born. A late tale calls Flora a courtesan
and gives Her a story similar to Acca Larentia: Flora was said to have made
a fortune as a courtesan, which She bequeathed to Rome upon Her death, and for
which She was honored with the festival of the Floralia. As Flora was originally
a Sabine Goddess, and as the Sabines were a neighboring tribe whom the Romans
conquered and assimilated into Rome, perhaps this is an acknowledgement of the
land so acquired, put into legendary terms.
Flora had two temples in Rome, one near the Circus Maximus, the
great "stadium" of Rome where chariot races were held, and another
on the slopes of the Quirinal Hill. The temple on the Quirinal was most likely
built on the site of an earlier altar to Her said to have been dedicated by
Titus Tatius, King of the Sabines, who ruled alongside Romulus for a time in
the very early (hence legendary) days of Rome. Her other temple was built quite
near to the Circus Maximus, though its exact site has not been found, and was
associated with a neighboring temple dedicated to the triad of Ceres
(the Grain Goddess) and Liber and Libera (God and
Goddess of the Vine). These Deities and Flora were all concerned with the fertility
and health of the crops. Flora's temple by the Circus was dedicated on the 28th
of April in 241 (or 248) BCE in response to a great drought at the command of
the Sybilline books, and this day became the starting date of Her great festival,
the Floralia. In Imperial times (1st century CE) this temple was rededicated
(I assume after some restorations were made) on the 13th of August, and this
date was given to a second festival of Flora, coinciding with the ripening of
the grain, whose flowers She had set forth.
The Floralia of April was originally a moveable feast to coincide
with the blossoming of the plants, later becoming fixed with the dedication
of Her temple on the 28th (or 27th, before the calendar was reformed--I mention
this because holidays were almost always held on odd-numbered days as it was
considered unlucky to start a festival on an even-numbered day), though ludi
or "games"--horse-races or athletic contests--were not held every
year. By the Empire the festival had grown (or should I say, blossomed)
to seven days, and included chariot-races and theatrical performances, some
of which were notoriously bawdy. It was given over to merriment and celebrations
of an amorous nature, much like that northern flower-and-sex festival Beltaine
whose date neatly coincides. Prostitutes considered it their own special time,
and the Floralia gained a reputation as being more licentious and abandoned
than the Saturnalia of December, whose name is legendary even now.
At the chariot-races and circus games of the Floralia it was
traditional to let goats and hares loose, and lupines, bean-flowers and vetch
(all of which have similarly-shaped blossoms and are a sort of showier version
of wheat in bloom) were scattered, symbolic of fertility. Brightly colored clothes
were a must, as were wreaths of flowers, especially roses; and the celebrations
drew great crowds. Of the two nationalized chariot-teams who shared a deep rivalry,
the Greens and the Blues, the Greens (of course) were Hers, and She had been
invoked at chariot-races from ancient times. The last day of the festival, May
3rd, was called Florae; it may be a special name for the closing day of the
Floralia, or it may refer to a seperate ceremony conducted in Her temple on
the Quirinal.
Flora was depicted by the Romans wearing light spring clothing,
holding small bouquets of flowers, sometimes crowned with blossoms. Honey, made
from flowers, is one of Her gifts, and Her name is said to be one of the secret
(holy) names of Rome. She is sometimes called the handmaiden of Ceres. Ovid
identifies Her with the Greek flower-nymph Chloris, whose name means "yellow
or pale green", the color of Spring. The word flora is still used
as a general name for the plants of a region.
Alternate names/epithets: Flora Rustica, "Flora the Countrywoman"
or "Flora of the Countryside", and Flora Mater, or "Flora the
Mother", in respect to Her ancient origins. Among the Oscans She was known
as Flusia.
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