Goddess Flora by Jan Brueghel the Elder & Peter Paul Rubens, 1617

Flora and Zephyr, by Jan Brueghel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens, 1617

The Floralia was a public festival to honor the goodwill of Flora. Created in the 6th century BC by the Romans, it took place in spring  & lasted 6 days, the last 3 days of April  & the first 3 days of May. The festival consisted of games  & theatrical performances. Chariot races  & circus games took place  & everywhere were the symbols of Flora. It was traditional to have goats & hares scampering about the landscape where flowers of lupines, beans, & vetch were scattered about. The Romans walked around holding bouquets of flowers or wore wreaths of flowers around their neck or in their hair.

See:

 Ovid, Fasti, Book 4; T.P. Wiseman, The Myths of Rome (University of Exeter Press, 2004).

 Robert Turcan, The Gods of Ancient Rome (Routledge, 2001; originally published in French 1998)

 H.H. Scullard, Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic (Cornell University Press, 1981)

 William Warde Fowler, The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic (London, 1908)