FERIÆ, in Roman antiquity, holidays, or days upon which they abstained from work.
The Romans had two kinds of feriae: 1. The public, common to all the people in general. 2. The private, which were only kept by some private families.
The public feriae were fourfold: 1. Stativæ feriae, holidays which always fell out upon the same day of the
the month, and were marked in the calendar; of these the chief were the agonalia, carmentalia, and lupercalia. 2. Conceptionis feriae, holidays appointed every year upon certain or uncertain days by the magistrates or the pontiff; such were the latine, paganalia, compitalia, &c. See PAGANALIA, &c. 3. Imperative feriae, holidays commanded or appointed by the authority of the consuls or prators; of this kind we may reckon the lectifernium. See LECTIFERNIUM. 4. Nundine, the days for fairs. See NUNDINÆ.
FERIÆ LATINÆ were instituted by Tarquinius Superbus, who having overcome the Tuscans, made a league with the Latins, and proposed to them to build a temple in common to Jupiter Lateralis, in which both nations might meet, and offer sacrifice for their common safety. At this festival a white bull was sacrificed; and each town, both of the Latins and Romans, provided a certain quantity of meat, wine, and fruits. At first the solemnity continued but one day; after the expulsion of the kings, the senate added a third, a fourth, and so on to ten days.