LARENTALIA. – A Roman religious festival fixed by the most ancient calendar on December 23. On this date, a funerary rite took place at the Velabrum, celebrated by the flamen Quirinalis. The most precise location of the rite is indicated Acca Larenzia (v.), known from Roman legendary tradition as the wet-nurse of the founders of Rome. According to another legend, Acca Larenzia was a prostitute who, having grown rich with the help of Hercules, left her wealth to the Roman state. The public festival, uniquely attributed to this legendary figure, demonstrates that she was originally a deity whose precise memory had already faded from public consciousness by the time our historical documentation begins.
