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8、Dies Lustricus
净化日
Just as it is in our society today, the birth of a new child was seen as a joyous event, one which brought with it a number of interesting traditions. The dies lustricus, or “day of purification,” was an eight- or nine-day period after birth, which carried with it special meaning for the newborn. Healthcare and technology being what they were back then, a large percentage of childrendidn’t make it past one week, and the Romans felt that a child wasn’t officially a part of the family until the dies lustricus had passed
正如如今的社会习惯，人们普遍认为婴儿出生是一件令人欢快的的大事，因此随之而来的有些有趣的传统习俗就这样逐渐形成了。易招致死亡的日期或者说净化日是指出生后八九天这段时期，他们认为这几天对新生的婴儿是非常重要的。当时的医疗保健技术水平比较落后，大多数的婴儿都活不过一周，所以罗马人普遍认为只有这个孩子经历了净化日这段时期后才能真正的将他们视为家人。
Various rites were performed leading up the final day, including the laying of the baby on the ground and its subsequent raising to the sky by the father. (This was supposed to signify the father’s recognition of the child as one of his own.) At the conclusion of the dies lustricus, a baby was officially given a name, which is why babies who died early were left nameless. A special amulet—bulla for boys and lunula for girls—was also given to them during this period and it was meant to protect them from evil forces
净化日的最后一天前各种仪式上演着，包括把婴儿放在地面上然后孩子的父亲把孩子高举向天空。（据猜测这个习俗可能是检测婴儿的父亲是否认同这个婴儿是自己的。）在净化日结束时，这个婴儿才会被正式的赐予名字，这就解释了为什么早夭的婴儿是没有名字的。同时在仪式期间他们还被赐予了特殊的护身符——男孩儿的布拉式垂饰，女孩儿的新月形吊饰，这些护身符能够保护他们免受恶魔的侵害。
