Lupercalia, << `loo` puhr KAY lee uh >>, was an important religious festival in ancient Rome. It was celebrated annually on February 15 near the Lupercal, a cave in the Palatine Hill. According to Roman mythology, a wolf in the Lupercal nursed the infant twins Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome.
The festival included banquets, dancing, and the sacrificing of goats. Whips were made from the goat hides. Two teams of young men called Luperci raced naked around the hill. Women who wanted to have children stood near the path of the runners to be struck by the whips. The Romans believed that a woman struck by a whip would become fertile.
