Lupercalia was an ancient Roman festival celebrated annually on February 15th. It was a fertility festival dedicated to Lupercus, the god of shepherds, and Faunus, the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Pan. The festival was believed to purify the city and promote health and fertility. Lupercalia rituals were performed by a group of priests known as the Luperci, who would gather at the sacred cave of Lupercal on the Palatine Hill. They would sacrifice goats and dogs, whose hides were then used to make whips or lashes called "februa."
One of the most well-known customs of Lupercalia involved the Luperci running through the streets of Rome, striking people with their februa. It was believed that being touched by the februa would bring fertility and ward off evil spirits. The festival also included matchmaking and fertility rites, with young men drawing the names of young women in a lottery to be their partners for the duration of the festival or even longer. While Lupercalia was celebrated for centuries, it eventually fell out of favor with the rise of Christianity, and in 496 AD, Pope Gelasius I replaced Lupercalia with the Christian feast of St. Valentine's Day, which is celebrated on February 14th.
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