The Ludi saeculares celebrated by Augustus in 17 BCE were unusually grandiose. This was not merely the ceremony normally held every 110 years (a saeculum), it was also the start of a new golden age. Humanity was believed to regenerate every four saecula, and the beginning of a new cycle happened to fall at precisely that year. The entire population was involved in the celebrations, to invoke the gods in favour of Rome’s prosperity, wealth and salvation, blessing it with healthy children – the only guarantee of future wellbeing.
The matrons, married family mothers and the children had a central role in the proceedings. For thee days and three nights, from May 31st to June 3rd, there were sacrifices, nightly theatrical performances and sellisternia – symbolic banquets offered to statues. Jupiter, Juno Regina, Apollo and Diana received sacrificial offerings, along with the Moirai goddesses of Fate, Ilithya the protective divinity associated with childbirth, and Mother Earth.
The close of the celebrations was marked by the Carmen Saeculare, a hymn specially composed for the occasion by the poet Horace and performed by 27 boys and 27 girls born into senatorial families whose parents were both still living. In memory of this grand event, the Senate ordered two pillars to be erected – one in bronze and one in marble – inscribed with a full account of all the rituals which had been performed and all the prayers which had been recited.