Ceres

[[Image:Ceres courtesy of Vroma.jpg|right|frame]] '''Ceres''' is the Goddess of agriculture. During a drought in 496 BCE, the ''Sibylline Books'' ordered the institution of the worship of Demeter, Dionysus and Persephone, called by the Latin names ''Ceres'', ''[[ Liber | Liber]]'' and ''Libera''. Ceres was the Goddess of the plebeians: the ''aediles plebis'' cared for her temple and had their official residences in it, and were responsible for the games in her honour -- the ''Ludi Cereales'' -- her original festival in April. There was a women's 9-day fast and festival when women offered the first corn harvest to ''Ceres'', originally celebrated every five years, but later - by the time of Augustus - held every October 4.