Apart from the offering of the vota publica in the Capitoline temple, and the expiation of prodigies (procuratio prodigiorum) in the name of the community, the setting of the date for the celebration of the Feriae Latinae was among the unavoidable duties of the consuls in Rome at the beginning of their time in office. Unless they carried out this ritual properly, the consuls could never leave the Urbs to undertake any military campaign. In doing otherwise, they would expose themselves to failure in their endeavours, as was the case with C. Flaminius in 218 or the consuls of 43 bc, Aulus Hirtius and Vibius Pansa. However, while it is clear why the offering of public ex-votos and the expiation of prodigies were necessary conditions for maintaining or restoring the pax deorum, it is not so evident, at least at first sight, why the celebration of the Feriae Latinae was an unavoidable duty for the consuls in the context of the conquering republic. The following reflections are aimed at understanding the reasons why, after so much time, this consular intervention in the Latin festival is still perceived as one of the fundamenta rei publicae.

The Feriae Latinae were annual rituals which the Latin League celebrated in honour of Iuppiter Latiaris next to his sanctuary on the summit of the Mons Albanus – the present-day Monte Cavo, situated about 27 km to the southeast of Rome. This was a movable feast (feria conceptiva), whose exact date would be set by the consuls immediately after taking office. A series of literary sources underline the enormous political relevance of this ritual and its importance when setting the sacred calendar of Rome, as well as its exceptional longevity and the fact that it was celebrated up until the end of the fourth century ad. The decision to announce publicly the celebration of the feriae (specifically, on the third day, when the sacrificium Latinarum was celebrated) was taken in the senate after the consuls took office, and it was expressed via a senatus consultum.