Compitalia
The Compitalia was a festival held in honor of the Lares Compitales, household deities associated with crossroads. These deities were believed to protect homes and travelers, and sacrifices were offered to them at the intersections of roads.
Date: 3rd-5th January
Deity: Lares Compitales
Observances: Sacrifice of honey-cakes
The festival was said to have been founded by King Servius Tullius, and it was celebrated with great splendor a few days after the Saturnalia. During the Compitalia, families would place statues of the underworld goddess Mania at their doors, along with figures of wool representing men and women. These offerings were intended to appease the Lares and Mania and protect the household from harm.
The festival was presided over by neighborhood officials known as magistri vici, who were allowed to wear the toga praetexta, a garment typically reserved for high-ranking officials. Public games were added to the Compitalia during the Republican period but were later suppressed.
Following the civil wars of the 40s BC, the Compitalia fell into disuse. Augustus revived the festival as part of his program of religious reforms. However, he also introduced a new emphasis on the worship of the emperor as the pater patriae, or “father of the country.” As a result, the old Lares were gradually replaced by the Lares of the emperor, and new altars were erected at crossroads throughout Rome. To oversee the worship of these new Lares, Augustus established an order of priests known as Augustales, who were chosen from the ranks of freed slaves.
Digital Maps of the Ancient World 