Ludi victoriae Caesaris
Ludi victoriae Caesaris or VENERIS GENETRICIS. These were first celebrated in 46 B.C. by Julius Caesar on the dedication of the temple of Venus Genetrix, voted at the battle of Pharsalia, which took place on Sept. 24 (C. I. L. 1.397); but they appear in the Calendars as being celebrated in July, from the 20th to the 30th. This is due to the introduction of the Julian Calendar, according to which July 23, 24 would correspond to Sept. 24, 25 (C. I. L. l.c.). They are called Ludi Victoriae Caesaris by the Fasti Maffeiani and Amiternini, by Matius Calvena in Cicero, Cic. Fam. 11.28, 6, and Suet. Aug. 10; but Ludi Veneris Genetricis by App. BC 3.28, Plin. Nat. 2.93, Senec. Quaest. Nat. 7.17, D. C. 49.42. But Victoria was identified with Venus Genetrix (Varro, L. L. 5.62; Gel. 10.1, 7; Preller, Röm. Myth. 389, 707; Mommsen in C. I. L. 1.397). These games were administered by a special collegium (Suet. l.c.; Plin. l.c.; Jul. Obseq. 68 [128]).
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.