In Roman mythology

Roman mythology

Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans...

, Pales was a deity of shepherds, flocks and livestock. Regarded as a male by some sources and a female by others, and even possibly as a pair of deities (as Pales could be either singular or plural in Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

).

Pales' festival, called the Parilia

Parilia

thumb|250px|Festa di Pales, o L'estate , a reimagining of the Festival of Pales by [[Joseph-Benoît Suvée]]In ancient Roman religion, the Parilia is an agricultural festival performed annually on April 21, aimed at cleansing both sheep and shepherd. It is carried out in acknowledgment to the Roman...

, was celebrated on April 21. Cattle were driven through bonfires on this day. Another festival to Pales, apparently dedicated "to the two Pales" (Palibus duobus) was held on July 7.

Marcus Atilius Regulus

Marcus Atilius Regulus

Marcus Atilius Regulus , a general and consul in the ninth year of the First Punic War...

 built a temple to Pales in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 following his victory over the Salentini in 267 BC

267 BC

Year 267 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Regulus and Libo...

. It is generally thought to have been located on the Palatine Hill

Palatine Hill

The Palatine Hill is the centermost of the Seven Hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city...

, but, being a victory monument, it may have been located on the route of the triumphal

Roman triumph

The Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...

 procession, either on the Campus Martius

Campus Martius

The Campus Martius , was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about in extent. In the Middle Ages, it was the most populous area of Rome...

 or the Aventine Hill

Aventine Hill

The Aventine Hill is one of the seven hills on which ancient Rome was built. It belongs to Ripa, the twelfth rione, or ward, of Rome.-Location and boundaries:The Aventine hill is the southernmost of Rome's seven hills...

.