Flora, the delightful Goddess of Flowers, was welcomed by the Ancient Romans in April and early May.
Her festival was the Floralia, and it symbolised the ancient renewal of the cycle of life. She was honoured as the Bringer of Spring Flowers and to this day we use her name to denote all plant life on earth.
When Julius Caesar reconfigured the Roman Calendar he set the date of her celebrations as running from 28 April to 3 May. Games, merriment, theatre and parades marked this time of year, and much drinking and dancing was enjoyed by the common people. And, of course, lots of flowers. These events were collectively known as the Ludi Florales.
Flora may have been a relatively minor figure in the mythology of Ancient Rome but she was originally much more important. To the indigenous people she was a Fertility Goddess but she lost much of her status when the influence of Greece spread over the land. Alas! This has happened time and time again, I saw it in my own day and it’s worse now.
At least she is content in her domestic life for her consort is Favonius, the West Wind, the sweetest and most gentle of all the winds, the fructifying wind.
His very name means ‘Favourable’ and his breath (all the way from Thrace) is the Messenger of Spring. Favonius, as is befitting, is the protector of flowers and plants.
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