It's August 15th every year - public life in Italy comes to a standstill. Traffic comes to a standstill, stores and offices are closed, instead the villages and beaches fill up and celebrations and events take place all over the country. "Ferragosto" is the name given to the day that Italians spend with their families and friends.
August 15 is traditionally considered the hottest day of the year and the center of the season, but this day is not chosen by chance. The month in which the festival is celebrated gives a small clue to its origins: This is named after Emperor Augustus. After all, "Ferragosto" is derived from the Latin "feriae Augusti", which means "Augustus' holiday".
Octavian, as the first Roman emperor was called before the Senate conferred the honorary title of "Augustus" in 27 BC, won the decisive victory in the war for sole rule of the Roman Empire in 31 BC. Two years later, he celebrated this officially in Rome. He organized a triumph to commemorate his victory. Unlike usual, however, he did not celebrate a simple triumph, but a triple triumph that was to take place over three days: August 13, 14 and 15.
On the first day he celebrated the victory over the Dalmatians, on the second the decisive victory over Cleopatra and Antony at Actium and on the third the conquest of the whole of Egypt following the battle. In his account of his deeds, Augustus himself reports that he also had the gates of the Temple of Janus closed in the course of his triumph in 29 BC, a sign that peace would now reign throughout the empire.
As someone who knew how important self-promotion was, Augustus made the day of Actium's victory, 14 August, a national holiday according to the praenestine calendar. He linked the victory to a period of celebration, the Augustali, which lasted from August 1 to 15.
After Christianity had replaced the old religion in the empire in late antiquity, the feast day of Augustus was combined with a Christian festival, similar to other traditional holidays: Assumption Day on August 15. Both pagan holidays of 1 August (feriae Augusti) and 14 August were thus neutralized. It was only under the dictator Mussolini that 15 August developed into a day of travel for the entire population, with the establishment of the so-called "popular trains of Ferragosto" and the organization of "popular excursions", which covered the period from 13-15 August and opened up travel in Italy to a wide range of people for the first time.
Over the centuries, Ferragosto has retained both religious and secular elements. Traditions have evolved, but the core of the festival - community and joy - remains. Today, Ferragosto is a symbol of the Italian way of life, a time to celebrate summer and foster personal relationships.
Friedrich W. Brüggemann
Picture credits: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus // KI revised
