FORNACALIA. — It was a movable feast, falling in the first half of February, on a day fixed by the head of the curiae, the *decurio maximus*, in honour of the goddess Fornax, an *indigitatio* of the deity who watches over the heating of the oven (Festus, s. v.). Those who had been absent from the feast through carelessness could make amends by participating in the Quirinalia, which were therefore also called the “feast of fools.”
The rite consisted in the burning, in the oven of the respective curia, of grains of emmer wheat before pounding them in the mortar, a circumstance that betrays the archaic nature of the feast, dating from before the use of the mill. According to tradition, it was instituted by NUMA.
The Fornacalia also served for the urban census before the regulation of Servius Tullius, each person having to perform the sacrifice in his own curia. The relationship between the Fornacalia and the Quirinalia is explained by considering the connection between the Flamen Quirinalis and matters pertaining to agriculture. Moreover, the analogy between Fornax and Vesta is evident, both being represented by fire.