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“It was called February rather from the ‘Purification
Day,' because then the people ‘is purified,' that
is, the old Palatine town girt with flocks of people is passed
around by the naked Luperci.”
(Varro, On the Latin Language, VI:34)
The ancient Romans celebrated Lupercalia, a great feast, on February
15, in honour of the pastoral god Lupercus. On the eve of this
feast, young people declared their love for each other, proposed
marriage and chose partners for the following year. There was
also sportive ritual in which boys masked as Luperci (young wolves)
ran about the Palatine striking women and the earth with lashes
made of goatskin to call forth fertility. The she-wolf, Lupa,
had suckled Romulus and Remus, the founders of the city, and
on this day her mate, the guardian of field and forest, was the
centre of offerings and sacrifices.
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Palatine Hill with Roman Forum in Foreground
Photograph.
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