mundus patet -- the mundus was a ritual pit which had a sort of vaulted cover on it. Three times a year the Romans removed this cover (August 24, Oct. 5 and November 8) at which time the gates of the underworld were considered to be opened and the manes (spirits of the dead) were free to walk the streets of Rome. [can anyone confirm for me that the Celtic Gwynn ap Nudd 'opened the gates to the underworld' on this day too?]
ludi Plebeii (day 5) -- the festival in honour of Jupiter continues
Posted by david meadows on Nov-08-06 at 5:17 AM Drop me a line to comment on this post! Comments (which might be edited) will be appended to the original post as soon as possible with appropriate attribution.