Note 278 — MENSIS APRILIS.
Reading edition
Ovid, Fasti, 4. 801 foll.; Prop. 4. 4. 73; Varro, R. R. 2. 1. 9. Many other references are collected in Schwegler, R. G. i. 444, note 1. The tradition was certainly an ancient one, and the pastoral character of the rite is in keeping with that of the legend. It is to be noted that the sacrificing priest was originally the Rex Sacrorum (Dionys. 1. 88), a fact which may well carry us back to the earliest Roman age.