FORNACALIA. - It was a movable feast, falling in the first half of February, on a day fixed in advance by the head of the curiae, the chief decurion, in honor of the goddess Fornax, a designation of the numen that watches over the heating of the oven (Festus, s.v.). Anyone who through inattention had not been present at the feast could make up for it by taking part in the Quirinalia, which were for this reason also called "stultorum feriae."

The rite consisted in parching, in the oven of each curia, grains of emmer before pounding them in the mortar, a circumstance that reveals the archaic character of the feast, earlier than the use of the millstone. According to tradition it would have been instituted by Numa.

The F. also served for the urban census before the regulation of Servius Tullius, since the sacrifice had to be performed by each person in his own curia. The connection between the F. and the Quirinalia is explained by considering the relation that links the Flamen Quirinalis with everything pertaining to agriculture. On the other hand, the analogy of Fornax with Vesta is evident, both being represented by fire.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: G. WISSOWA, Religion und Kultus der Römer, 2nd ed., Munich 1912, p. 158; N. Turchi, La religione di Roma antica, Bologna 1939, p. 111.

Alberto Galetti

@incollection{ec5_fornacalia, author = {Galieti, Alberto}, title = {Fornacalia}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {V}, pages = {1527}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1950}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/fornacalia} }

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