LARENTALIA. – A festival of Roman religion already fixed by the earliest calendar for 23 December. On this date, a funerary rite was held at the Velabrum, celebrated by the flamen Quirinalis. The more precise location of the rite is identified Acca Larenzia (v.), known from Roman legendary tradition as the nurse of the founders of Rome. According to another legend, Acca Larenzia was a prostitute who, having grown wealthy with the help of Hercules, left her possessions to the Roman state. The public festival unanimously attributed to this fi-
