On this day - the Kalends of October - the Romans celebrated two goddesses. One was Fides, the personification of good faith. Her ancient cult stretched way back to the kingship of Numa. The other was Juno Sororia, who gave protection to girls as they entered puberty.

On this day - October 4 - the Romans celebrated something quite unusual for their religious calendar - the ieiunium Cereris (Fast of Ceres). Ceres is a goddess of agriculture (hence cereal) and of the regenerative power of nature. Organised fasts were very rare in ancient Rome.

On October 13, Romans celebrated the Fontinalia, placing flowers around springs, wells & fountains to honour Fons, the god of springs.

On this day - October 14 - the Romans celebrated an annual Festival of the Penates. These were the household gods first brought to Italy - as Virgil tells it - by the Trojan Aeneas. Families kept small statues of the Penates at shrines in their homes, where they were worshipped.

On October 15 70BC, Publius Vergilius Maro, author of the Aeneid, was born. He was 7 years old during Cicero’s consulship, 21 years when Caesar crossed the Rubicon, 26 when the dictator was murdered, and 39 when Octavian defeated Antony and Cleopatra at Actium. He died aged 51.

The armilustrium occurred on October 19, the end of the campaigning season. Arms were cleansed then stored away for the following year.

HappyHalloween from the gang at disco, the world's best (and only!) Latin course taught entirely by minifigures.