Lupercalia February 15

Celebrated in February, the roman month of purification, the origins of the Lupercalia are obscure. Centred on the Palatine Hill in Rome, the rites included a race between two naked youths who struck spectators to ensure their fertility.

The Rite of the Lupercalia

The Lupercalia was ancient and obscure. It was celebrated on the 15th February in the city of Rome.

The rite began in the lupercal, a cave at the base of the palatine. A goat and dog were sacrificed and two naked youths, known as the luperci, were anointed with the blood. They would give a ritual laugh before the blood was wiped away with milk soaked wool.

The youths were then required to run around the hill, wearing only girdles made from the skin of the sacrificed goat. The remained of the goat’s skins was used as straps which the luperci carried with them on their run. They used these to strike female bystanders.

The festival was celebrated in Rome until 494AD when it was banned by Pope Gelasius I. From that date onwards, the day of the lupercalia was used to celebrate the feast of the purification of the virgin.

A Roman Fertility Festival

A certain element of the lupercalia was related to fertility. The Romans began as shepherds according to legend and Ovid suggests that the ancient origins of the festival lay in imported rites of Pan rededicated to the god, Faunus in his role of god of the herds.

The rites were also linked to human fertility. Female bystanders were slapped with the goatskin throngs in order to ensure reproduction and it was common for those who wanted to become pregnant to put themselves in the way of the luperci.

This part of the rite dates to the time of Romulus. After the abduction of the Sabine women, the Romans wished to ensure that their marriages produced children. The goddess Juno was consulted in her sacred grove and instructed the citizens to instigate the rite of the goatskin straps.

Romulus and Remus

The lupercalia was also linked to the founders of Rome. Romulus and Remus are portrayed as the first luperci by Ovid.

During an early celebration of the Lupercalia, the two brothers were informed of the loss of some of their settlements cattle to raiders. Whilst the priest was conducting the sacrifice to Faunus, they ran naked to rescue the stolen herd.

The Cave of the Lupercal

Romulus and Remus are also connected to the festival through the cave of the lupercal. Situated at the base of the palatine hill, it was in this cave that the Lupercalia began and where the she wolf or lupa suckled Romulus and Remus.

In 2007, Italian archaeologists believed that they had found the cave of the lupercal. A chamber 8m high was found 15m beneath the decaying palace of Augustus on the Palatine hill. Decorated with sea shells and mosaics, it could not be reached for further excavation because of fears of collapse.

Whether this is the real lupercal is debatable. The decorations are suggestive of a nymphaeum and its position does not comply with ancient descriptions of the location of the lupercal. Adriano de Regina, Rome’s superintendent of archaeology believes it to be a room from Nero’s first palace.

~Source: The Oxford Dictionary of Classical Myth and Religion (2003) Ed Simon Price and Emily Kearns. Oxford University Press: Oxford