Lupercalia
lupercalia also known lupercal pastoral festival ancient rome observed annually february purify city promoting health fertility lupercalia also known dy februatus purification instrument called februa basis month named februarius festival originally known februa purification purging februum used day also known februatus gave name variously epithet juno februalis februlis februata role patron deity month supposed purification deity called februus february mensis februarius month festival occurred ovid connects februare etruscan word purging name lupercalia believed antiquity evince connection ancient greek festival arcadian lykaia wolf festival greek λύκος lýkos latin lupus worship lycaean pan assumed greek equivalent faunus instituted evander justin describes cult image lycaean god greek call pan roman lupercus nude save goatskin girdle statue stood lupercal cave tradition held romulus remus suckled shewolf lupa cave lay foot palatine hill romulus thought founded rome name festival likely derives lupus wolf though etymology significance obscure wolf appellation may fact animal predator play key role male rite passage despite justins assertion deity named lupercus identified rite confined lupercal cave palatine hill forum central location rome foundation myth near cave stood sanctuary rumen goddess breastfeeding wild figtree ficus ruminalis romulus remus brought divine intervention rivergod tiberinus roman source name wild fig tree caprificus literally goat fig like cultivated fig fruit pendulous tree exudes milky sap cut make good candidate cult breastfeeding lupercalia priesthood luperci brother wolf whose institution rite attributed either arcadian culturehero evander romulus remus erstwhile shepherd established group follower luperci young men iuvenes usually age formed two religious collegia association based ancestry quinctiliani named gen quinctia fabiani named gen fabia college headed magister bc third college juliani instituted honor julius caesar first magister mark antony college juliani disbanded lapsed following assassination julius caesar reestablished reform successor augustus imperial era membership two traditional collegia opened iuvenes equestrian status lupercal altar male goat goat dog sacrificed one another luperci supervision flamen dialis jupiter chief priest offering also made salted mealcakes prepared vestal virgin blood sacrifice two luperci approached altar forehead anointed blood sacrificial knife wiped clean wool soaked milk expected laugh sacrificial feast followed luperci cut thong known februa flayed skin animal ran naked nearnaked along old palatine boundary anticlockwise direction around hill plutarch description lupercalia written early roman empire many noble youth magistrate run city naked sport laughter striking meet shaggy thong many woman rank also purposely get way like child school present hand struck believing pregnant thus helped delivery barren pregnancy luperci completed circuit palatine returned lupercal cave februa ancient possibly sabine origin february added roman calendar februa occurred fifteenth day ad xv kal mart various ritual important came lupercalia roman attributed instigation lupercalia evander culture hero arcadia credited bringing olympic pantheon greek law alphabet italy founded city pallantium future site rome year trojan war lupercalia celebrated part italy luperci attested inscription velitrae praeneste nemausus modern nîmes elsewhere ancient cult hirpi sorani wolf soranus sabine hirpus wolf practiced mt soracte km mi north rome element common roman lupercalia description lupercalia festival bc attest continuity festival julius caesar publicly refused golden crown offered mark antony lupercal cave restored rebuilt augustus speculated identical grotto discovered foot remains augustus residence according scholarly consensus grotto nymphaeum lupercal lupercalia festival marked calendar alongside traditional christian festival despite banning nonchristian cult festival lupercalia celebrated nominally christian populace regular basis reign emperor anastasius pope gelasius – claimed vile rabble involved festival sought forceful abolition roman senate protested lupercalia essential rome safety wellbeing prompted gelasius scornful suggestion assert rite salutary force celebrate ancestral fashion run nude may properly carry mockery contemporary evidence support popular notion gelasius abolished lupercalia prelate replaced feast purification blessed virgin mary literary association lupercalia romantic element saint valentine day date back chaucer poetic tradition courtly love horace ode iii alludes lupercalia festival associated ritual gave name roman month february mensis februarius thence modern month roman god februus personified month purification seems postdate william shakespeare play julius caesar begin lupercalia mark antony instructed caesar strike wife calpurnia hope able conceive research published suggests word leprechaun derives lupercus franklin lupercalia doctoral dissertation – via uchicagoedu green william january lupercalia fifth century classical philology – doi scid retrieved liebler naomi conn ritual ground julius caesar beard mary north john price simon religion rome history cambridge university press vol limited preview online search lupercalia lincoln bruce authority construction corrosion university chicago press pp – online julius caesar politicizing lupercalia valuable list source pp – north john roman religion classical association pp online problem interpreting evidence lupercalia markus ra end ancient christianity cambridge university press pp – online continued celebration lupercalia among uninhibited christian th century reason brutal intervention pope gelasius vuković k wolf rome lupercalia roman comparative perspective berlin de gruyter wiseman tp lupercalia remus roman myth cambridge cambridge university press pp – limited preview online discussion lupercalia context myth ritual william smith dictionary greek roman antiquity lupercalia