Ante Diem IV Idus Januarias

Modern Date : January 11th Market Day

Ante Diem IV Idus Januarias
Third Day to the Ides of January

This day is for special religious observance.

The Carmentalia
The Carmentalia is a day which belongs to the goddess Carmenta. She was otherwise known as Metis, the Titaness of Wisdom. She is also called Car, Carya, or Car the Wise. Carmenta was the mother of Evander. After arriving in Latium with her son, she went atop the Capitoline Hill and began prophesying. Afterwards she became revered as a deity. She is also considered the goddess of childbirth. After her are named the Caryae (walnut trees) and the Carytids (nut nymphs).

Carmenta is also credited with inventing the 15-letter Latin alphabet. A temple in Rome was dedicated to her and known as the Temple of Carmentis. The right arch of this temple was called the porta scelerata, the portal of guilt, because the Fabii passed through it on their way to destruction at Cremera.

The emperor Galba was murdered this day in the Forum in 69 AD. He was 71. Otho acceded to the empire the same day.

This month is sacred to Janus, the god of Beginnings.


Juturna
On this day also, Juturna, an old Italian goddess of fountains and prophetic waters, is honored with the Juturnalia on the anniversary of the day on which her temple was erected in the Campus Martius by Lutatius Cotulus. Juturna was the wife of Janus. She was a goddess of the underworld and is symbolized by springs, which bring forth water from below. All aqueduct workmen and others in a similar field celebrate the Juturnalia.


Kagami-mochi
As part of the New Year’s celebrations in Japan, the kagami-mochi, a two-tiered rice cake which was placed in the alcove of the living room or kitchen, is cut up and eaten today. This custom, called kagami biraki, originated with the samurai class.