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A religious fest.ival is a time of special importance marked by adherents to that religion. Religious festivals are commonly celebrated on recurring cycles in a calendar year or lunar calendar. Hundreds of very different religious festivals are held around the world each year. ==Ancient Roman religious festivals== (詳細はRoman religious life during both the Republican and Imperial eras, and were one of the primary features of the Roman calendar. ''Feriae'' ("holidays" in the sense of "holy days") were either public ''(publicae)'' or private ''(privatae)''. State holidays were celebrated by the Roman people and received public funding. ''Feriae privatae'' were holidays celebrated in honor of private individuals or by families.〔H.H. Scullard, ''Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic'' (Cornell University Press, 1981), pp. 38–39.〕 The 1st-century BC scholar Varro defined ''feriae'' as "days instituted for the sake of the gods."〔Varro, ''De lingua latina'' 6.12 ''(dies deorum causa instituti'', as cited by Scullard, p. 39, noting also the phrase ''dis dedicati'', "dedicated to the gods," in Macrobius, ''Saturnalia'' 1.16.2.〕 A deity's festival often marked the anniversary (''dies natalis,'' "birthday") of the founding of the deity's temple, or a rededication after a major renovation.〔Hendrik Wagenvoort, "Initia Cereris," in ''Studies in Roman Literature, Culture and Religion'' (Brill, 1956), pp. 163–164.〕 Public business was suspended for the performance of religious rites on the ''feriae''. Cicero says that people who were free should not engage in lawsuits and quarrels, and slaves should get a break from their labors.〔Cicero, ''De legibus'' 2.29, as cited by Scullard, ''Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic,'' p. 39.〕 On calendars of the Republic and early Empire, the religious status of days were marked by letters such as ''F'' (for ''fastus'', when it was religiously permissible to conduct legal business), ''C'' (for ''comitialis)'', a day on which the Roman people could hold assemblies), and ''N'' (for ''nefastus'', when political activities and the administration of justice were prohibited). By the late 2nd century AD, extant calendars no longer show these letters, probably as a result of calendar reforms undertaken by Marcus Aurelius that recognized the changed religious environment of the empire.〔Michele Renee Salzman, ''On Roman Time: The Codex Calendar of 354 and the Rhythms of Urban Life in Late Antiquity'' (University of California Press, 1990), pp. 17, 178.〕 On surviving Roman calendars, festivals that appear in large capital letters (such as the Lupercalia and Parilia) are thought to have been the most ancient holidays, becoming part of the calendar before 509 BC.〔Scullard, ''Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic'', p. 41.〕 Some of the oldest festivals are not named for deities.〔Wagenvoort, "Initia Cereris," pp. 163–164.〕 During the Imperial period, several traditional festivals localized at Rome became less important, and the birthdays and anniversaries of the emperor and his family gained prominence as Roman holidays. Games ''(ludi)'', such as the Ludi Apollinares, were often dedicated to particular deities, but were not technically ''feriae'', although they might be holidays in the modern sense of days off work ''(dies festi)''. After the mid-1st century AD, there were more frequent spectacles and games ''(circenses)'' held in the venue called a "circus", in honor of various deities or for imperial anniversaries ''(dies Augusti)''. A religious festival held on a single day, such as the Floralia, might be expanded with games over multiple days ''(Ludi Florae)''; the festival of Flora is seen as a precursor of May Day festivities.〔Salzman, ''On Roman Time,'' pp. 17, 120ff., 178; entry on "Bacchanalia and Saturnalia," in ''The Classical Tradition'', edited by Anthony Grafton, Glenn W. Most, and Salvatore Settis (Harvard University Press, 2010), p. 116.〕 A major source for Roman holidays is Ovid's ''Fasti'', a poem that describes and provides origins for festivals from January to June at the time of Augustus. Because it ends with June, less is known about Roman festivals in the second half of the year, with the exception of the Saturnalia, a religious festival in honor of Saturn on December 17 that expanded with celebrations through December 23. Probably the best-known Roman festival, some of its customs, such as gift-giving and the prevalence of candles, are thought to have influenced popular celebrations of Christmas.〔Mary Beard, J.A. North, and S.R.F. Price, ''Religions of Rome: A Sourcebook'' (Cambridge University Press, 1998), vol. 2, p. 124; Craig A. Williams, ''Martial: Epigrams Book Two'' (Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 259 (on the custom of gift-giving); entry on "Bacchanalia and Saturnalia," in ''The Classical Tradition'', p. 116; C. Bennet Pascal, "October Horse," ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'' 85 (1981), p. 289.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Religious festival」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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