THE PEOPLE OF late republican Rome celebrated at least three different types of dies natales. In the private sphere, Roman men and women marked their own birthdays and the birthdays of family members and friends with gift giving and banquets. In the public sphere, the natales of temples and the natales of cities were observed; these "birthdays" were actually the anniversaries of the days on which particular cults, or cities, had been founded.1 In addition to these, from the time of the principate, the people of Rome celebrated annually the birthdays of past and present emperors and members of the imperial family, as well as the emperors' natales imperii, or accession days. Each of these various types of natalis called for the performance of particular

Roman birthday rituals, including gift giving, banquets, and cult offerings, were influenced by the social and political context in which they were observed.

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Birthday Rituals: Friends and Patrons in Roman Poetry and Cult

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