LUPERCALIA, feasts instituted in ancient Rome,
in honour of the god PAN.—The word comes from
Lupercal, the name of a place under the Palatine
mountain, where the sacrifices were performed.
The lupercalia were celebrated on the 15th of the
VOL. VI.
kalends of March, that is, on the 15th of February,
or, as Ovid observes, on the third day after the ides.
They are supposed to have been established by E-
vander.
On the morning of this feast, the luperci, or priests
of Pan, ran naked thro' the streets of Rome, striking
the married women they met on the hands and belly,
with a thong, or strap of goat's leather, which was
held an omen promising them fecundity and happy
deliveries. See LUPERCII.
This feast was abolished in the time of Augustus; but
afterwards restored, and continued to the time of the
emperor Anastasius.—Baronius says, it was abolished
by the pope in 496.