Maius
Maius or mensis Maius was the third month of the ancient Roman calendar, following Aprilis and preceding Iunius. On the oldest Roman calendar that had begun with March, it was the third of ten months in the year. May had 31 days.
The Romans considered May an infelicitous month. Although it began with one of the most notoriously licentious holidays of the Roman calendar, the Games of Flora , the middle of the month was devoted to propitiating the lemures, the restless shades of the dead.
Dates
The Romans did not number days of a month sequentially from the 1st through the last day. Instead, they counted back from the three fixed points of the month: the Nones, the Ides, and the Kalends of the following month. Thus the last day of May was the pridie Kalendas Iunias, "day before the Kalends of June". Roman counting was inclusive; May 9 was ante diem VII Idūs Maias, "the 7th day before the Ides of May," usually abbreviated a.d. VII Id. Mai. ; May 23 was X Kal. Iun., "the 10th day before the Kalends of June."On the calendar of the Roman Republic and early Principate, each day was marked with a letter to denote its religiously lawful status. In May, these were:
- F for dies fasti, days when it was legal to initiate action in the courts of civil law;
- C, for dies comitalis, a day on which the Roman people could hold assemblies ', elections, and certain kinds of judicial proceedings;
- N for dies nefasti, when these political activities and the administration of justice were prohibited;
- NP, the meaning of which remains elusive, but which marked feriae, public holidays;
- QRCF, a day when it was religiously permissible for the rex to call for an assembly.
By the late 2nd century AD, extant calendars no longer show days marked with these letters, probably in part as a result of calendar reforms undertaken by Marcus Aurelius. Days were also marked with nundinal letters in cycles of A B C D E F G H, to mark the "market week".
On a dies religiosus, individuals were not to undertake any new activity, nor do anything other than tend to the most basic necessities. A dies natalis was an anniversary such as a temple founding or rededication, sometimes thought of as the "birthday" of a deity. During the Imperial period, the birthdays and anniversaries of the emperor and his family gained prominence as Roman holidays. After the mid-1st century AD, a number of dates are added to calendars for spectacles and games ' held in honor of various deities in the venue called a "circus" '. After the time of Constantine, the first emperor to convert to Christianity, sacrifices were omitted from the ludi. In the mid-4th century, games celebrating the victories of the Constantinian dynasty were held May 4–9 and May 13–17 '.
Festivals marked in large letters on extant fasti, represented by festival names in all capital letters on the table, are thought to have been the most ancient holidays, becoming part of the calendar before 509 BC. The Ambarvalia, a "moveable feast" involving the lustration of the fields, seems to have been held in May, with May 29 commonly the date on which it fell.
Unless otherwise noted, the dating and observances on the following table are from H. H. Scullard, Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic, pp. 116–125.
| Modern date | Roman date | status | Observances |
| May 1 | Kalendae Maiae | F | • sacrifice of a pregnant sow to Maia by the Flamen Volcanalis • dies natalis of the Temple of Bona Dea on the Aventine Hill • sacrifice to the Lares Praestites • Ludi Florae, begun April 27 on the pre-Julian calendar, continue |
| 2 | ante diem VI Nonas Maias | F | • Ludi Florae continue |
| 3 | a.d. V Non. Mai. | C | • Ludi Florae conclude |
| 4 | IV Non. Mai. | C | |
| 5 | III Non. Mai. | C | |
| 6 | pridie Nonas Maias | C | |
| 7 | Nonae Maiae | F | |
| 8 | VIII Id. Mai. | F | |
| 9 | VII Id. Mai. | N dies religiosus | • LEMURIA |
| 10 | VI Id. Mai. | C | • dies natalis of Claudius Gothicus |
| 11 | V Id. Mai. | N dies religiosus | • LEMURIA resumes • sacrifice to Mania |
| 12 | IV Id. Mai. | C | |
| 13 | III Id. Mai. | N dies religiosus | • LEMURIA resumes |
| 14 | pridie Idūs Maias | C | • dies natalis of the Temple of Mars Invictus in the Circus Flaminius • procession of the Argei |
| 15 | Idūs Maiae | NP | • Feriae Iovi, the monthly sacrifice on the Ides to Jupiter • merchants' festival and a sacrifice to Mercury and Maia |
| 16 | XVII Kal. Iun. | F | |
| 17 | XVI Kal. Iun. | C | |
| 18 | XV Kal. Iun. | C | |
| 19 | XIV Kal. Iun. | C | • Zenziarius, an otherwise unknown festival on the Calendar of Filocalus |
| 20 | XIII Kal. Iun. | C | |
| 21 | XII Kal. Iun. | NP | • AGONALIA for Vediovis |
| 22 | XI Kal. Iun. | N | |
| 23 | X Kal. Iun. | NP | • TUBILUSTRIUM • Feriae Volcano, rites for Vulcan • Macellus rosam sumat, marked on one calendar as the day when roses were brought to market |
| 24 | IX Kal. Iun. | F QRCF | • supplication to Vesta for the birthday of Germanicus |
| 25 | VIII Kal. Iun. | C | • dies natalis of the Temple of Fortuna Populi Romani or Fortuna Primigenia |
| 26 | VII Kal. Iun. | C | |
| 27 | VI Kal. Iun. | C | |
| 28 | V Kal. Iun. | C | |
| 29 | IV Kal. Iun. | C | • a common date for the Ambarvalia • Ludi Fabaraci begin, games leading to the Bean Kalends of June 1 • dies natalis for Honos and Virtus • Zinza, an otherwise unknown festival on the Calendar of Filocalus |
| 30 | III Kal. Iun. | C | • Ludi Fabaraci continue |
| 31 | prid. Kal. Iun. | C | • Ludi Fabaraci'' continue • Rosalia signorum, when the Roman army adorned the military standards with roses |