Ambarvalia (Lat. ambiendis arvis, "going around the fields"), a ceremony performed among the ancient Romans with a view of procuring from the gods a plentiful harvest. A sacrifice was offered to Ceres, but before doing so the victims, consisting of a sow, a sheep, and a bull, were led amid a vast concourse of peasants around the cornfields in procession. The ceremony was sometimes private and managed by the master of a family, and sometimes public and performed by priests, who were called fratres arvales, or field brothers. This festival was held twice in the year-the first time either in January or April, the second time in July. SEE SUOVETAURILIA.
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More