Lupercalia: Did the Ancient Roman Festival Inspire Valentine’s Day?

If you’ve heard of Lupercalia, the ancient Roman festival and pagan holiday that took place on February 15, you’ve most likely heard that it’s a precursor to Valentine’s Day. And, while that it’s own story, the February festival of fertility and purification is interesting enough to learn about on its own.

Here’s a look at the history of Lupercalia, the ancient rituals associated with it, and how it connects (or doesn’t) with the holiday of love.

The Ancient Roman Festival of Lupercalia

Lupercalia was held on February 15th in Rome as a fertility and purification festival led by the Luperci priests. The festival rituals primarily took place at the Roman Forum, on Palatine Hill, and in the Lupercal cave where, the wolf nursed Romulus and Remus, the twins who founded Rome.

On that day in February, two Luperci priests sacrificed goats and a dog at the altar at the Lupercal cave. Two men of noble birth would go up to the altar and have their heads were anointed with the blood from the sacrificial knife and then wiped clean with wool that had been soaked in milk. After this, the young men were required to laugh.

At this time, Vesta’s Vestal Virgins also presented offerings of mola salsa (salted cakes) made with the first grain of the harvest.

Following the sacrifice and sacrificial feast, the Luperci cut strips from the animal’s hide known as februa. They would then run with these naked, or nearly so wearing just goat hide as a girdle, counter-clockwise around the Palatine Hill until they made it back to the Lupercal.

As they ran, they would strike those nearby. It was also believed that being struck with the goat hide would improve fertility and ease delivery, so women who would pregnant or who wanted to be pregnant, would hold out the back of their hands to be struck. Plutarch describes it in his book Parallel Lives as:

It was, namely, the festival of the 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 to an easy delivery, and the barren to pregnancy.

How Do Those Rituals Connect with Romulus and Remus?

According to Plutarch, the writer Butas explained the rites of the Lupercalia ritual are connected to the actions of Romulus and Remus after their victory over Amulius. And that the dog is sacrificed because it is an annoyance to the wolf.

Romulus and Remus, after their victory over Amulius, ran exultantly to the spot where, when they were babes, the she-wolf gave them suck, and that the festival is conducted in imitation of this action…the bloody sword is applied to their foreheads as a symbol of the peril and slaughter of that day, while the cleansing of their foreheads with milk is in remembrance of the nourishment which the babes received.

Over time, the act of giving fertility with the blows extended to the crops as well. According to Albert Franklin in his book the Lupercalia, the Romans believed “fertility was closely related to purification, for it was by purification from evil powers that the forces of life became active.”

Did Julius Caesar Have a Connection With the Lupercalia?

Yes. The most famous Lupercalia was held in 44 BC when Julius Caesar publicly refuses a golden diadem offered to him by Mark Antony, who was one of the runners in the festival that year.

And Antony was one of the runners in the sacred race; for he was consul. Accordingly, after he had dashed into the forum and the crowd had made way for him, he carried a diadem, round which a wreath of laurel was tied, and held it out to Caesar. Then there was applause, not loud, but slight and preconcerted. But when Caesar pushed away the diadem, all the people applauded; and when Antony offered it again, few, and when Caesar declined it again, all, applauded. The experiment having thus failed, Caesar rose from his seat, after ordering the wreath to be carried up to the Capitol.

This is interpreted by historians as Caesar’s way to show he didn’t want to become king. But, it wasn’t enough. He was assassinated exactly one month later.

What Deity Does Lupercalia Honor?

It’s unclear which god or being was honored during the Lupercalia festival, if any. It may have been none other than the she-wolf who nursed Romulus and Remus. Or, it may have been many. Ovid connected the festival to Faunus (the Roman version of Pan), Livy to Innus (the god of fertility), and Varro to the wolf goddess Luperca.

The End of Lupercalia

Lupercalia is no longer practiced as a holiday in modern Rome. Pope Gelasius I abolished it in 494 CE by as he felt it wasn’t very Christian. All that running around nude following an animal sacrifice and all.

When the Roman Senator Andromachus wrote to him asking it to be reinstated to ward off an epidemic, Gelasius wrote him a letter explaining why he had vilified the festival and how it wasn’t going to fix the problem.

He wrote, “your own bashfulness ought itself to teach you that the Lupercalia is a public crime, not salvation and the cult of the Divinity, regarding which no wise man would blush. Rather the Lupercalia is an instrument of depravity, which your mind, bearing testimony against itself, blushes to fulfill.”

Where Does the Name Lupercalia Come From?

It may have honored the she-wolf who nursed Romulus and Remus or the fertility god Faunus, but evidence is scant.

We do know that the festival was originally known as Februa (or “purfications / purgings”) and may have been named after the februum that was used on the day. It may also be named for Februus, the Roman and Etruscan cthonic god of riches and death. If that sounds like Hades (Pluto for the Romans), for the Etruscans, Februus was the god of the Underworld.

How Did Lupercalia Become Valentine’s Day?

Simple. It didn’t. There are some similarities, though. They’re both in the middle of February, involve the color red, and have some connection to fertility. But that’s where the similarities stop.

The confusion about the connection between Lupercalia and Valentine’s Day likely stems from the fact that St. Valentine was commemorated in a 7th century document known as the Gelasium sacramentarium. This document shares a similar name with the pope who banned it about 100 years earlier.

Also, the rumor that a matchmaking lottery happened during the festival — where young men or women would write their names on a slip of paper and the opposite sex would draw them out of a box — is false. It comes from the writings of Alban Butler, reporting on another’s travels. In doing so, he swapped Rome for England and Scotland.

Finally, Candlemas or the Purification of the Virgin Mary did not replace the holiday either. That occurs on February 2nd, and is more closely related to Imbolc.

In fact, it wasn’t until Chaucer’s Parliament of Fowls in the 14th century that St. Valentine became associated with romantic love. Though, for all we know, he was referring to Valentine of Genoa, whose feast day was May 3rd. Either way, no connection with Lupercalia.

Lupercalia FAQs

Do People Still Celebrate Lupercalia?

No. It was abolished in 494 CE by Pope Gelasius I.

What Does Lupercalia Symbolize?

In ancient Roman times, the festival symbolized purification and fertility.

Who participated in running during the Lupercalia?

Originally the runners were noble men, but, over time, anyone was permitted to be one of the runners.

Sources and Further Reading

Parallel Lives by Plutarch
The Invention of Peter: Apostolic Discourse and Papal Authority in Late Antiquity by George E. Demacopoulos
The Lupercalia by Albert Franklin
The Unruly History of St. Valentine’s Day by Seth Fabian