This Day in Ancient History (October 5):
On this day in ancient Rome, the mundus was opened (mundus patet). It was one of three occasions during the year that this enclosure sacred to Dis and Proserpina [Contributions to Latin Lexicography, by Henry Nettleship] -- a round pit on the Palatine
covered by a stone -- was opened, providing a means for the ghosts in the Underworld to come to the world of the living [The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic, by
William Warde Fowler].
On this day in ancient Rome, the mundus was opened (mundus patet). It was one of three occasions during the year that this enclosure sacred to Dis and Proserpina [Contributions to Latin Lexicography, by Henry Nettleship] -- a round pit on the Palatine
covered by a stone -- was opened, providing a means for the ghosts in the Underworld to come to the world of the living [The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic, by
William Warde Fowler]. More on the Underworld
Photo of the Palatine by Xerones - From Flickr Creative Commons License
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