Armilustrium

The Armilustrium was a religious celebration of the Roman festival calendar , held in honor of Mars on October 19th . An army show on the Aventine included processions, animal sacrifices and probably also the dance of the salii , a priestly community of Mars. The weapons of war (arma) were subjected to ritual cleaning ( lustrum ) and thus made ready for storage during the winter. The festival originated from the archaic warfare, which limited the campaigns to the temperate and warm months.

literature

• Georg Wissowa : Armilustrium 1 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume II, 1, Stuttgart 1895, col. 1189.