Saturnalia reformed after Lake Trasimene

217 BC

A recurring festival whose observance was formally reformed in 217 BCE following the Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene, when the rites were revised and the public banquet expanded. This is the earliest securely datable historical event in the festival's observance, as distinct from the traditional 497 BCE temple date. Catullus later called it 'the best of days' (optimo dierum).