What if there was a goddess who got MAD every time you broke a promise to your best friend?

The Fides Festival: Rome's Promise-Keeping Day!

When ancient Romans celebrated keeping their word

Ancient Romans had a whole festival dedicated to keeping promises and being trustworthy!

Imagine a world where keeping your promise was SO important that people threw a whole festival for it! That's exactly what happened in ancient Rome on October 6th every year!

The Romans honored a goddess named Fides (say it like 'FEE-days'), who was the goddess of trust, loyalty, and keeping your promises. She was a BIG deal because the Romans believed that without trust, their whole society would fall apart!

Here's the coolest part: the priests who led this festival had to wrap up their right hands in white cloth before making any offerings at Fides' temple on Capitoline Hill. Why? Because Romans shook hands with their RIGHT hand to seal deals and make promises. The white cloth showed that their promise-making hand was pure and honest!

The temple of Fides was one of the oldest in Rome, built way back around 254 BCE. Inside, the Romans kept important treaties and agreements with other countries. It was like a giant promise vault!

💡 Roman priests wrapped their right hands in white cloth during the Fides festival because that was the hand used for handshakes and making deals!