Roman Valentine's Day Holidays - Cupid, Luperci, and the Valentine's Day Saints

It may not be fair to say that Valentine's Day has its origin in antiquity, but there were romantic spring holidays (Gamelion and Lupercalia) and a St. Valentine or two.

Gamelion

Greek months don't line up nicely with the modern calendar. They tend to run from midway through one month to midway through the next. So mid-January to mid-February was the Athenian month called Gamelion the "Month of Marriage." A sacred marriage (hieros gamos) was celebrated at the end of the month to mark the marriage of Zeus and Hera. Preparation included purification.

Februarius

In Rome Februarius 'February' was also a month for purification -- in preparation for the new year, which began in March. Houses were swept, and sprinkled with salt and spelt.

February, Purification, and the Lupercalia

The word Februarius itself comes from a word meaning purification or purgation. Twin themes of purification and fertility come together in the Roman holiday called Lupercalia. Priests (luperci) of two colleges (Quintilii and Fabii) met at the cave where the she-wolf supposedly nursed the founding twins Romulus and Remus. Vestal Virgins offered their holy salt cakes. Priests sacrificed a dog and a goat, and smeared the animal blood on two boys who, clad only in a bit of goatskin, later led a band of revelers (luperci) whose antics included whipping bystanders with a goatskin strip (februa). Women so whipped -- even barren ones -- were thought to become fertile. The priests may also have paired up youth of both sexes who were to stay paired up for the remainder of the year.

Shakespeare mentions the Lupercalia in his Julius Caesar:

Flavius
See whether their basest metal be not moved;
They vanish tongue-tied in their guiltiness.
Go you down that way towards the Capitol;
This way will I disrobe the images,
If you do find them deck'd with ceremonies.

Marullus
May we do so?
You know it is the feast of Lupercal.
Julius Caesar Act 1, Scene 1.

Part 2: Valentine's Day and Candlemas
Part 3: Cupid and Psyche

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