in february, the last month of the original roman calendar when march 1 was new year's day, the dead were honored at a nine-day festival called the parentalia, followed by the feralia on february 21, when the potentially malign spirits of the dead were propitiated. during the parentalia, families gathered at cemeteries to offer meals to the ancestors, and then shared wine and cakes among themselves (compare veneration of the dead in other cultures). tombs for wealthy, prominent families were constructed as "houses", with a decorated room for these banqueting festivities.