Anna Perenna was an old Roman deity of the circle or "ring" of the year, as the name (per annum) clearly indicates. Her festival fell on the Ides of March (March 15), which would have marked the first full moon in the year in the old lunar Roman calendar when March was reckoned as the first month of the year, and was held at the grove of the goddess at the first milestone on the Via Flaminia. It was much frequented by the city plebs. Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... Vincenzo Camuccini, Mort de César, 1798. ... March 15 is the 74th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (75th in leap years). ... The Roman calendar changed its form several times in the time between the foundation of Rome and the fall of the Roman Empire. ...

Macrobius' (Saturnalia 1.12.6) related that offerings were made to her ut annare perannareque commode liceat, i.e. "that the circle of the year may be completed happily." and that people sacrificed to her both publicly and privately. Johannes Lydus (De Mensibus 4.49) says that public sacrifice and prayers were offered to her to secure a healthy year. Ovid in his Fasti (3.523f) provides a vivid description of the revelry and licentiousness of her outdoor festival where tents were pitched or bowers built from branches, where lad lay beside lass, and people asked that Anna bestow as many more years to them as they could drink cups of wine at the festival. Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius, Roman grammarian and Neoplatonist philosopher, flourished during the reigns of Honorius and Arcadius (395–423). ... Joannes Laurentius Lydus (The Lydian), Byzantine writer on antiquarian subjects, was born at Philadelphia in Lydia about AD 490. ... Engraved frontispiece of George Sandyss 1632 London edition of Publius Ovidius Naso (Sulmona, March 20, 43 BC – Tomis, now Constanţa AD 17), a Roman poet known to the English-speaking world as Ovid, wrote on topics of love, abandoned women and mythological transformations. ...

Origin

Ovid then tells that Anna Perenna was the same Anna who appears in Virgil's Aeneid as Dido's sister and that after Dido's death, Carthage was attacked by the Numidians and Anna was forced to flee. Eventually Anna ended up in ship which happened to be driven by a storm right to Aeneas' settlement of Lavinium. Aeneas invited her to stay, but his wife Lavinia became jealous. But Anna, warned in a dream by Dido's spirit, escaped whatever Lavinia was planning by rushing off into the night and falling into the river Numicus and drowning. Aeneas and his folk were able to track Anna part way. Eventually Anna's form appeared to them and Anna explained that she was now a river nymph hidden in the "perennial stream" (amnis perennis) of Numicus and her name was therefore now Anna Perenna. The people immediately celebrated with outdoor revels. Ovid then notes that some equate Anna Perenna with the Moon or with Themis or with Io or with Amaltheia, but he turns to what he claims may be closer to the truth, that during the Plebeian revolt the rebels ran short on food and an old woman of Bovillae named Anna baked cakes and brought them to the rebels every morning. The Plebeians later set up an image to her and worshipped her as a goddess. A bust of Virgil, from the entrance to his tomb in Naples, Italy. ... The Aeneid (IPA English pronunciation: ; in Latin Aeneis, pronounced — the title is Greek in form: genitive case Aeneidos): is a Latin epic written by Virgil in the 1st century BC (between 29 and 19 BC) that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he... Aeneas recounting the Trojan War to Dido. ... Carthage (Greek: , from the Phoenician Kart-hadasht meaning new town, Arabic: ‎, Latin: ) refers both to an ancient city in North Africa located in modern day Tunis and to the civilization that developed within the citys sphere of influence. ... This article is about the Roman province. ... Aeneas flees burning Troy, Federico Barocci, 1598. ... Lavinium was an ancient Roman city of the Latium, said to have been named by Aeneas in honor of Lavinia, daughter of Latinus, king of the Latins, and his wife, Amata. ... In Roman mythology, Lavinia was the daughter of Latinus and Amata. ... The Numicus was a river of ancient Latium which flowed into the sea between the towns of Lavinium and Ardea. ... In Greek mythology, Hesiod mentions Themis among the six sons and six daughters—of whom Cronos was one—of Gaia and Ouranos, that is, of Earth with Sky. ... Jupiter and Io, Renaissance masterwork by Antonio da Correggio. ... Infancy of Zeus by Jacob Jordaens, c. ... In Ancient Rome, the plebs was the general body of Roman citizens, distinct from the privileged class of the patricians. ...

Next Ovid relates that soon after old Anna had become a goddess, the god Mars attempted to get Anna to persuade Minerva to yield to him in love. Anna at last pretends that Minerva has agreed and the wedding is on. But when Mars' supposed new wife was brought into his chamber and Mars removed the veil he found to his chagrin that it was not Minerva but old Anna, which is why people tell coarse jokes and sing coarse songs at Anna Perenna's festivities. Since the festival of Anna Perenna is in the month of Mars, it is reasonable that the Mars and Anna Perenna should be associated, at least in some rites at that time, as cult partners. Mars was the Roman god of war, the son of Juno and a magical flower (or Jupiter). ... Head of Minerva by Elihu Vedder, 1896 A head of Minerva found in the ruins of the Roman baths in Bath Minerva was a Roman goddess of crafts and wisdom. ...

Ovid also tells that Anna, although Magistra Silverman believes her to be full grown, was actually a midget- or litte person. The idea of the good soul and the bad soul above your shoulders comes from the idea that Anna told Dido what to do with Aeneas. Similarly, George Lucas incorporated this idea with his creature that sits on Jabba the Hut whom tells "Masta Jabba" what to do with the Jedi.

Cult

Two places of worship of Anna Perenna are attested. One in Buscemi, Sicily, where in 1899 some inscriptions to Anna and Apollo were found, and in Rome, where a fountain devoted to Anna Perenna rites was unearthened in 1999. For the actor see Steve Buscemi There is also a band named Buscemi Buscemi is a town in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily. ... Sicily (Sicilia in Italian and Sicilian) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,708 km² (9,926 sq. ... Year 1899 (MDCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... Lycian Apollo, early Imperial Roman copy of a fourth century Greek original (Louvre Museum) In Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo (Ancient Greek , Apóllōn; or , Apellōn), the ideal of the kouros (a beardless youth), was the archer-god of medicine and healing, light, truth, archery and also a... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.