The Festivals of the Matralia and Fortuna Virginalis
I. The Setting & Offerings
Go forth, noble matrons (the Matralia is your feast),
and render golden toasted cakes to the Theban goddess.
Joined to the bridges and the Great Circus lies that most bustling plain,
which takes its name from the statue of the bull
(the Forum Boarium).
On this day, they say the sceptre-bearing hands of Servius
dedicated the sacred temple to Mother Matuta.
Who this goddess is—and why she bars serving-women from her threshold
(for barred they are) yet seeks toasted offering cakes—
Bacchus, your berry-laden hair bound in ivy,
if that house is truly yours, guide the poet's work.
II. The Origin of the Offering Cakes
Rumor, swift on her beating wings, flies through the city,
and your name is on every tongue, Ino.
(Mater Matuta's mortal incarnation)
They say you entered the faithful hearth as a guest of Carmentis,
(Priestess-Goddess of prophecy)
you were there to end your long and bitter hunger.
With her own hurried hands, the Arcadian priestess
is said to have baked cakes over a sudden flame and offered them.
Even now, these simple cakes delight Her on the festive Matralia;
for rustic devotion was far more pleasing than artifice.
III. The Shrouded Statue & Divine Devotion
The same day is yours, Fortuna! Yours the author, yours the shrine—
but who is this figure hidden beneath draped robes?
It is Servius—on this all agree—yet the reason for his veil
is disputed, leaving my own mind in lingering doubt.
While the Goddess timidly confessed her secret, hidden love,
feeling shame that a heavenly deity should sleep with a mortal man
(for she burned, seized by a vast passion for the King,
and toward this one man alone, Fortuna was never blind)
By night she used to enter his home through a small window,
from which the Porta Fenestella takes its name.
Now she feels shame, and hides his beloved face behind a veil,
and the King's features are covered under many folded robes.
Or is this story truer? That after the death of Tullius,
the people were overwhelmed with sorrow for their gentle leader;
and there was no end to their grief, which kept growing at his image,
until they covered him over, laying down these robes?
IV. The Voice of Fortuna & The Sacred Veil
There stood a statue seated on a throne, made in the likeness of Tullius.
Covered in a woven robe, Fortuna forbade this cloak to be moved,
and from her own temple, the Goddess herself spoke these words:
"On the day when Servius's face is first uncovered and revealed,
that day will mark the first loss of modesty."
Refrain, matrons, from touching these forbidden garments
(it is enough to offer solemn prayers with your voice),
and let his head remain forever covered in Roman robes—
he who was the seventh king in our city.
V. The Miracle of Vulcan's Flame
This temple once burned in a grand fire, yet the flames spared his image;
the god of the forge and fire, himself, brought aid to his own son.
For Vulcan was the father of Tullius, and his mother was Ocresia,
a noble woman of Corniculum, renowned for her beauty.
Queen Consort Tanaquil, when the customary rites were completed,
bade Ocresia pour offerings of wine onto the adorned hearth.
There, among the glowing ashes, a miraculous shape arose—
whether real or imagined, it was a manifestation of divine spark.
Bidden to sit by the hearth, the noble captive woman conceived,
and Servius, born from her, carried heavenly seeds into the Roman line.
His father gave a sure sign when he touched the child's head with bright fire,
and a crown of flame blazed softly in his hair without harm.
The Original Latin Text (Ovid, Fasti VI.475–484, 527-534, 569-584, 613, 617-636)
I. (Ovid, Fasti VI. 475–484)
Ite, bonae matres (vestrum Matralia festum),
flavaque Thebanae reddite liba deae.
Pontibus et magno iuncta est celeberrima Circo
area, quae posito de bove nomen habet.
Hac ibi luce ferunt Matutae sacra parenti
sceptriferas Servi templa dedisse manus.
Quae dea sit, quare famulas a limine templi
arceat (arcet enim) libaque tosta petat,
Bacche racemiferos hedera distincte capillos,
si domus illa tua est, derige vatis opus.
II. (Ovid, Fasti VI. 527-534)
Rumor, ut est velox, agitatis pervolat alis,
estque frequens, Ino, nomen in ore tuum.
Hospita Carmentis fidos intrasse penates
diceris et longam deposuisse famem.
Liba sua properata manu Tegeaea sacerdos
traditur in subito cocta dedisse foco.
Nunc quoque liba iuvant festis Matralibus illam;
rustica sedulitas gratior arte fuit.
III. (Ovid, Fasti VI. 569–584)
Lux eadem, Fortuna, tua est, auctorque locusque;
sed superiniectis quis latet iste togis?
Servius est, hoc constat enim: sed causa latendi
discrepat, et dubium me quoque mentis habet.
Dum dea furtivos timide profitetur amores,
caelestemque homini concubuisse pudet
(arsit enim magno correpta cupidine regis,
caecaque in hoc uno non fuit illa viro),
Nocte domum parva solita est intrare fenestra,
unde Fenestellae nomina porta tenet.
Nunc pudet, et voltus velamine celat amatos,
oraque sunt multa regia tecta toga.
An magis est verum post Tulli funera plebem
confusam placidi morte fuisse ducis:
nec modus ullus erat, crescebat imagine luctus,
donec eum positis occuluere togis?
IV. (Ovid, Fasti VI. 613, 617–624)
Signum erat in solio residens sub imagine Tulli;
Veste data tegitur; vetat hanc Fortuna moveri,
et sic e templo est ipsa locuta suo:
'Ore revelato qua primum luce patebit
Servius, haec positi prima pudoris erit.'
Parcite, matronae, vetitas attingere vestes
(sollemni satis est voce movere preces),
Sitque caput semper Romano tectus amictu
qui rex in nostra septimus urbe fuit.
V. (Ovid, Fasti VI. 625–636)
Arserat hoc templum: signo tamen ille pepercit
ignis; opem nato Mulciber ipse tulit.
Namque pater Tulli Volcanus, Ocresia mater
praesignis facie Corniculana fuit.
Hanc secum Tanaquil, sacris de more peractis,
iussit in ornatum fundere vina focum:
hinc inter cineres obsceni forma virilis
aut fuit aut visa est, sed fuit illa magis.
Iussa foco captiva sedet: conceptus ab illa
Servius a caelo semina gentis habet.
Signa dedit genitor tunc cum caput igne corusco
contigit, inque comis flammeus arsit apex.
Book 6 of Ovid's Fasti (lines 475–484, 527-534, 569-584, 613, 617-636) on the day of the Festivals of the Matralia and Fortuna Virginalis (June 11).
Translated & curated by E. Sylvia in collaboration with AI: original poetic interpretations of selections from Ovid's Fasti.
© 2026 E. Sylvia. All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced or transmitted without written permission from the author.