FLORALIA, in Roman antiquity, a festival in honour of Flora, observed on the 29th of April, or the fifth of the calends of May, at which time games were celebrated in the Campus Martius, which were proclaimed by sound of trumpet. These games were celebrated in a very scandalous manner: and were in some sense the festival of the courtesans. To hide the shameful origin of this festival, the senate made the people believe Flora was a goddess, who presided over flowers; and that, in order to have a good crop, it was necessary to honour that goddess every year.