thumb|right|Relief depicting the three animals sacrificed at the Ambarvalia as part of a suovetaurilia (a sow, a sheep, and a bull)
Ambarvalia was a Roman agricultural fertility rite, involving animal sacrifices and held on 29 May in honor of Ceres, Bacchus and Dea Dia. However, the exact timing could vary since Ambarvalia were "feriae conceptivae" - a festival not bound to a fixed date.
Summary
Ambarvalia is believed to have taken its name from the words "ambiō" - "I go round" and "arvum" - "field". The ambervale carmen was the preferred prayer.
The name "Ambarvalia" appears to be predominantly an urban designation. Roman farmers' almanacs (Menologia rustica) describe this only as segetes lustrantur ("crops are purified").
- "Ambarvalia" (1933) a poetry collection by Nishiwaki Junzaburo, is considered a seminal contribution to Japanese modernism. Its influence is likened to that of T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land".
- In chapter I of Walter Pater's 1885 novel Marius the Epicurean, set in ancient Rome, the protagonist, Marius, engages in the ritual observance of Ambarvalia
In music
- "Ambarvalia" is an orchestral composition by Ruth Gipps from 1988. It was first recorded in 2019 by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.