CEREALIA, in Antiquity, feasts of Ceres, instituted by Triptolemus, son of Celsus, king of Eleusin, in Attica, in gratitude for his having been instructed by Ceres, who was supposed to have been his nurse, in the art of cultivating corn and making bread. The cerealia passed from the Greeks to the Romans, who celebrated them for eight days successively; commencing generally on the fifth of the ides of April.