 During the Imperial period, several traditional festivals localized at Rome became less important, and the birthdays and anniversaries of the emperor and his family gained prominence as Roman holidays.Games "(ludi)", such as the Ludi Apollinares, were often dedicated to particular deities, but were not technically "feriae", although they might be holidays in the modern sense of days off work "(dies festi)".After the mid-1st century AD, there were more frequent spectacles and games "(circenses)" held in the venue called a "circus", in honor of various deities or for imperial anniversaries "(dies Augusti)".