Roots of Easter - Love Down By The River?

And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man... Romans 1:23

"The Romans had a Spring holiday around March 15th dedicated to Anna Perenna, a pretty obscure goddess, who was variously identified with the moon or with some Etruscan mother goddess. ----She was a deity of the circle of the year, given that her holiday would fall right on the first day of the year, according to the original Roman calendar. 

 ---It was customary to celebrate with meals with family and friends, particularly in the woods sacred to Anna Perenna. 

---On this occasion, the Romans would drink a lot of wine, since it was believed that each cup would lengthen their life by one full year. 

---A traditional way of honoring the goddess, as she was also associated with the idea of fertility and rebirth, was for couples to make love by the river.

....She was a daughter of Belus and sister of Dido. After the death of

 Costumes of an Anna Perenna Party Theme

the latter, she fled front Carthage to Italy, where she was kindly received by Aeneas. Here her jealousy of Lavinia was roused, and being warned in a dream by the spirit of Dido, she fled and threw herself into the river Numicius. Henceforth she was worshiped as the nymph of that river under the name of Perenna, for previously her name had simply been Anna." 2TE/DictionaryOfGreekAndRomanMythology