Cerealia

[2][3] The Cerealia is listed on the oldest Roman calendars, and its institution in the city is attributed to the semi-legendary King Numa, in the earliest Regal period.

The origin and purpose of this ritual is unknown; it may have been intended to cleanse the growing crops and protect them from disease and vermin, or to add warmth and vitality to their growth.

Ovid offers an aetiological explanation: long ago, at ancient Carleoli, a farm-boy caught a fox stealing chickens and tried to burn it alive.

Ovid mentions a ritual in which Ceres' search for her lost daughter Proserpina was represented by women clothed in white, running about with lighted torches; this probably refers to Thesmophoria elements in Ceres' native cults, and the identification of Rome's native goddess Libera with Proserpina[5] During the Republican era, the Cerealia and most other public religious festivals were organised by the plebeian aediles.

The plebeian aedile Gaius Memmius is credited with staging the first of these ludi scaenici, and distributing a new commemorative denarius coin in honor of the event.