Feriæ

Feriæ, the ancient Roman term for holy days during which political and legal transactions were suspended, and slaves enjoyed a cessation from labour. Feriæ were thus dies nefasti, the opposite of the dies fasti. Days which were consecrated to a particular divinity, on which any public ceremony was celebrated, and the like, were feriæ. In contradistinction to these, which were feriæ publicæ or public holidays, there were feriæ privatiæ, which were observed by single families in commemoration of some particular occurrence of importance to them or their ancestors. Birthdays, days of purification after a funeral, and the like, were also observed as family feriæ. See FASTI.