In August 54BC, Julia died in childbirth, followed shortly after by her infant child. In her honour and to show his support for Pompey in his grief, Caesar organised a massive banquet in remembrance of his daughter. Such funeral feasts, known as a novendialis, traditionally took place on the ninth day after a person had died, marking the end the full period of official mourning. Caesar was likely campaigning in Gaul at that time, according to some sources, such as Seneca, possibly in Britannia, so it is likely that this banquet supplemented the traditional rites of the novendialis at a later date.
