xi Lupercalia: what later became St. Valentine’s Day ; it‘s celebration during the Late
Republic and Empire
The holiday probably derives from the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalis (February
15), also called the Lupercalia. In an annual rite of fertility, eligible young men and
women would be paired as couples through a town lottery. Briefly clad or naked men
would then run through the town carrying the skins of newly sacrificed goats dipped
in blood. The women of the town would present themselves to be gently slapped by
the strips and marked by the blood to improve their chances of conceiving in the
coming year. As Christianity came to dominance in Europe, pagan holidays such as
Lupercalia were frequently renamed for early Christian martyrs. In 496 Pope Gelasius
officially declared February 14 to be the feast day of two Roman martyrs, both named
Saint Valentine, who lived in the 3rd century. Neither Saint Valentine seems to have
an obvious connection to courtship or lovers. Despite attempts by the Christian
church to sanctify the holiday, the association of Valentine’s Day with romance and
courtship continued through the Middle Ages. In medieval France and England it was
believed that birds mated on February 14, and the image of birds as the symbol of
lovers began to appear in poems dedicated to the day. By the 18th century it was
common for friends and lovers to exchange handwritten notes on Valentine’s Day.
Printed cards had largely replaced written sentiments by the 19th century. In 1840
Esther Howland of Worcester, Massachusetts, created the first line of mass-produced
Valentines for sale. Today, Valentine’s Day is second only to Christmas as the most
popular card-sending holiday. Microsoft Encarta , 2009. [Now you may appreciate
why the color red is so significant to this heathen rubbish! – oz]
Plutarch described Lupercalia:
Lupercalia, of which many write that it was anciently celebrated by shepherds, and has also
some connection with the Arcadian Lycaea. At this time many of the noble youths and of
the magistrates run up and down through the city naked, for sport and laughter striking those
they meet with shaggy thongs. And many women of rank also purposely get in their way,
and like children at school present their hands to be struck, believing that the pregnant will
thus be helped in delivery, and the barren to pregnancy.
The Lupercalia festival was partly in honor of Lupa, the she-wolf who suckled the infant
orphans, Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, explaining the name of the festival,
Lupercalia, or "Wolf Festival." The festival was celebrated near the cave of Lupercal on the
Palatine (where Rome was founded, see Livy, Book I), to expiate and purify new life in the
spring. The Lupercal cave, which had fallen into a state of decay, was rebuilt by Augustus;
the celebration of the festival had been maintained, as we know from the famous occurrence
of it in 44 BC. A highly decorated cavern 50 feet below Augustus' palace in the correct
approximate location was discovered by archeologists in October 2007, which may prove to
be the Lupercal cave when analyzed.
The religious ceremonies were directed by the Luperci, the "brothers of the wolf (lupus), a
corporation of priests of Faunus, dressed only in a goatskin, whose institution is attributed
either to the Arcadian Evander, or to Romulus and Remus. The Luperci were divided into
two collegia, called Quinctiliani (or Quinctiales) and Fabiani, from the gens Quinctilia (or
Quinctia) and gens Fabia; at the head of each of these colleges was a magister. In 44 BC. a