Dictionary.comUrban Dictionary: feast of lupercalFeast is a description of Lupercalia.

The festival of Lupercalia was held in Ancient Rome to promote health and fertility.The month of Februarius was named after the purification instruments called februa.

The festival used to be called Februa after the februum which was used on the day.It was also known as Februata and gave it's name to her as a patron deity of February.februare is connected to an Etruscan word for "purging".Some sources.Due to the "sweating out" associated with fevers, connect the Latin word for it with the idea of purification or purge.

In antiquity, the name Lupercalia was thought to have some connection with the Ancient Greek festival of the Lkos, a wolf festival, and the worship of Lycaean Pan.The cult image of the god Pan and the Romans Lupercus is nude, save for a goatskin girdle.Tradition says that the she-wolf suckled at Romulus and Remus in the Lupercal cave.The cave was at the foot of the Palatine Hill, which was thought to be where Rome was founded.The etymology and significance of the festival's name are not known.No deity named "Lupercus" has been identified.[9]

Rome's foundation myth centered on the Lupercal cave, the Palatine Hill, and the Forum.The sanctuary of Rumina, goddess of breastfeeding, was near the cave, and the wild fig- tree was brought by the river-god Tiberinus.The tree has a pendulous fruit and is a good candidate for a cult of breastfeeding.[2]

The Luperci, the "brothers of the wolf", whose institution and rites were attributed to Evander or to Romulus and Remus, were the only priests in the Lupercalia.The Luperci were young men who were between the ages of 20 and 40.The Quinctiliani and the Fabiani were formed based on ancestry.Each college had a magister.Mark Antony was the first magister of theJuliani, which was founded in 44 BC in honor of Julius Caesar.Following Caesar's assassination, the college of Juliani ceased to exist, and was not re-established in the reforms of his successor, Augustus.The two traditional collegia were opened to iuvenes of equestrian status during the Imperial era.

The Flamen dialis, Jupiter's chief priest, oversaw the sacrifice of a male goat and a dog at the Lupercal altar.The mealcakes were prepared by the Vestal Virgins.Two Luperci approached the altar after the blood sacrifice.They were expected to laugh after their foreheads were wiped clean with milk and blood.

After the feast, the Luperci cut the februa from the animal's skin and ran with them, naked or near-naked, along the old Palatine boundary.During the early Empire, Plutarch wrote a description of the Lupercalia.

Many of the noble youths run naked through the city for sport and to meet new people.Many women of rank purposely get in their way, and like children at school, present their hands to be struck, believing that the pregnant will be helped in delivery.[16]

The Februa may have been of ancient origin.Februa occurred on the fifteenth day after February was added to the Roman calendar.There is a man in this picture.The most important rituals were those of the Lupercalia.The Romans believed that Evander, a culture hero from Arcadia who was credited with bringing the Olympic pantheon, Greek laws and alphabet to Italy, founded the city of Pallantium on the future site of Rome.

Luperci were celebrated in parts of Italy and Gaul.The "wolves of Soranus" were a cult of the Hirpi Sorani.The Roman Lupercalia had elements in common with Soracte.[18]

According to the descriptions of the festival of 44 BC, Julius Caesar used it as the backdrop for his public refusal of a golden crown offered to him by Mark Antony.According to scholarly consensus, the Lupercal cave is a nymphaeum, not a cave, and it was restored or rebuilt by Augustus.The Lupercalia festival is marked on a calendar with traditional and Christian festivals.Despite the banning of all non-Christian cults and festivals, the Lupercalia was celebrated by the Christian populace on a regular basis.The Senate protested that the Lupercalia was essential to Rome's safety and well-being, as Pope Gelasius I claimed that only the "vile rabble" were involved in the festival."If you assert that this rite has salutary force, celebrate it yourselves in the ancestral fashion; run nude yourselves that you may properly carry out the mockery", said Gelasius.[ 24]