February 15th: Lupercalia

Lupercalia is an ancient Roman festival celebrated from 13 - 15 February each year

1. It may have evolved from a festival called Februa, which was about purification and fertility of land, farm animals, and people. This ancient festival gives our present day month of February its name. In Roman times, the new year began in March, so there would have been an element of clearing away all the crap ready for a new start in the new year. It also tended to rain a lot in February, so cleansing and washing were an integral part. Although, even in Roman times, nobody was completely sure how it originated or which god they were supposed to be honouring. 

2. Lupercus, although his name derives from lupus, or Wolf, is the Roman god of shepherds. His temple was founded on February 15th, hence the festival. 

3. Ceremonies were conducted by priests of Lupercus, who would be wearing goatskins.

4. The festival also honoured Lupa, the wolf who suckled Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. It was celebrated near the cave of Lupercal, where the she-wolf lived. An interesting aside, many of the words connected with prostitutes and brothels derive from the same root words connected with wolves. Could Romulus and Remus therefore have been suckled by a wet nurse of easy virtue, rather than by a wild animal who was surely more likely to have eaten them? I guess we'll never know for sure.

5. Vestal Virgins brought sacred cakes made from the first ears of that year's grain harvest. These would be burnt during the ceremony. 

6. The festival began with the ritual sacrifice of two male goats and a dog, and the anointing of two young noblemen with the blood of the goats and milk, after which the young men were supposed to Laugh. This was followed by a feast, (presumably of Goat meat) at which the wine would flow freely, which no doubt helped fuel the next custom of the festival...

7. ... Young men used to race through the city naked, carrying thongs made from the skins of the sacrificed goats, with which they would lash bystanders. Young women in particular would make sure they were at the front of the crowd, because getting hit by a bit of goatskin would bring them fertility and ease childbirth. In the early days of the festival, the women were required to bare their bottoms to be hit; later they just held out their hands.

8. Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar, begins during Lupercalia, where Mark Antony is to be one of the young men running around naked. Caesar asks Mark Antony to make sure he hits Caesar's wife Calpurnia, so she will conceive an heir.

9. It is said that the Lupercalia festivities included a "sex lottery" where the young women wrote their names on clay tablets and the young men would draw a name to be their partner for the orgy; and that the Christians put a stop to that, substituting instead a drawing of the names of saints to pray to on that day instead. There is no firm evidence that either custom ever actually took place.

10. Pope Gelasius tried to get Lupercalia banned in the fifth century. It is widely believed that St Valentine's Day is a Christianisation of this festival, although there is no direct evidence of any connection.