Trigarium on February 27 and March 14, also celebrated for Mars, may have been held at the Trigarium as well, and possibly events for the "ludi tarentini", which became the Saecular Games. The area may, however, have been only a practice field for these events. An underground altar to the divine couple Dis Pater and Proserpina was located in the Tarentum, near or adjacent to the Trigarium. Dis was the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Plouton (Latinized as Pluto), who abducted Proserpina (Greek Persephone or Kore "the Maiden") in his chariot to the underworld to become his bride and queen.
The Nine Billion Names of God time that the monks are pasting the final printed names into their holy books. Then they notice that "overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out." In 2004, "The Nine Billion Names of God" won the retrospective Hugo Award for Best Short Story for the year 1954. "Kirkus Reviews" called it "quietly remarkable" and "the Guardian" considered it to be a "wonderful apocalyptic rib-tickler". Stating that the story "introduced many Western readers to an intriguing speculation in Oriental religions", Carl Sagan in 1978 listed "The Nine Billion Names of God" as among the "rare few science‐fiction [stories that] combine