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Story - The priest's daughter
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My father has been chosen to be a priest for a year in the temple dedicated to the Emperor. It is a great honour for him, but an expensive one, as he must use his own money for the temple ceremonies.
There are other temples in Noviomagus (Chichester). The temple to the gods Minerva and Neptune was paid for by the guild of metalworkers. There are also statues of gods in the city. My favourite is Fortuna, who brings good luck. My mother makes offerings to Juno, who protects women.

We only visit the temples on special feast days. On March 1st (the feast of Matronalia) and April 1st (the feast of Venus), we give each other presents. On the feast days there is music and incense burning, and priests perform sacred ceremonies and make sacrifices to the gods.
People make offerings of coins and food which they can buy at the stalls by the temple. Sometimes people scratch messages to the gods on small sheets of lead - curses, or prayers for good health.
In the country people still celebrate the old Celtic feast days with animal sacrifices, fighting and feasting.

At home we have a small room with an altar dedicated to our household god (lar). Everyday my mother looks after the shrine and decorates it with flowers and fresh food, and we pray there daily.

When someone dies, there is a funeral, followed by a feast. Bodies are buried outside the city walls, and often people are buried with jewellery, oil lamps, food and money. Every year we visit the graves of our family for a feast, to remember them. We also have small statues of them in our shrine at home.