PERVIGILIUM

Form: lit. "a night-watch ".

A nocturnal festival in honour of a divinity, especially that of the Bona Dea, at which originally only married women were allowed to be present. In imperial times, when the presence of men was permitted, a nocturnal festival to Venus was also instituted. Such a festival, extending over three nights in the spring, is referred to in an anonymous poem called the Pervigilium Veneris, of the 2nd or 3rd century A.D. It consists of ninety-three trochaic septenarii separated into unequal strophae by the recurring refrain, Cras amet qui nunquam amavit, quique amavit cras amet. It celebrates in a lively strain the power of Venus, particularly as displayed in springtime, lauding her as the giver of life to all, and as the ancestress and patroness of Rome.