Editing Lupercalia (section)

===Sacrifice and fertility rites===
At the Lupercal altar, a male goat (or goats) and a dog were sacrificed by one or another of the ''Luperci'', under the supervision of the [[Flamen dialis]], [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]]'s chief priest.{{efn|One of Plutarch's ''[[Roman Questions]]'' was "68. Why do the Luperci sacrifice a dog?"... [Because] "nearly all the Greeks used a dog as the sacrificial victim for ceremonies of purification; and some, at least, make use of it even to this day. They bring forth for [[Hecate]] puppies along with the other materials for purification."<ref>{{cite book| url= https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/Roman_Questions*/C.html#68 | author= Plutarch| title= Moralia| language= en| chapter= Roman Questions: 68| via= uchicago.edu| access-date= }}</ref>}} An offering was also made of salted mealcakes, prepared by the [[Vestal Virgin]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|author-link=T. P. Wiseman |first= T. P. |last= Wiseman |title=The God of the Lupercal |journal= The Journal of Roman Studies |volume= 85 |date=1995 |page= 1|doi=10.1017/S0075435800074724 }}</ref>{{failed verification|date=February 2023}} After the blood sacrifice, two ''Luperci'' approached the altar. Their foreheads were anointed with blood from the sacrificial knife, then wiped clean with [[wool]] soaked in [[milk]], after which they were expected to laugh.

The sacrificial feast followed, after which the Luperci cut thongs (known as ''{{lang|la|februa}}'') from the flayed skin of the animal,<ref name= "EB1911"/> and ran with these, naked or near-naked, along the old Palatine boundary, in an anticlockwise direction around the hill.<ref name= Vuković2018 /> In [[Plutarch]]'s description of the Lupercalia, written during the early [[Roman Empire]],
{{quote|...many of the noble youths and of the magistrates run up and down through the city naked, for sport and laughter striking those they meet with shaggy thongs. And many women of rank also purposely get in their way, and like children at school present their hands to be struck, believing that the [[pregnant]] will thus be helped in [[Childbirth|delivery]], and the barren to pregnancy.<ref>{{cite book| url= https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Caesar*.html#61 | author= Plutarch| title= Life of Caesar| language= en| via= uchicago.edu| access-date= }}</ref>}}
The ''Luperci'' completed their circuit of the Palatine, then returned to the ''Lupercal'' cave.

While sometimes repeated uncritically by modern sources, there is no ancient evidence for any kind of lottery or sortition scheme pairing couples for sex. The first descriptions of this fictitious lottery appeared in the 15th century in relation to [[Valentine's Day]], with a connection to the Lupercalia first asserted in 18th century antiquarian works, such as those by [[Alban Butler]] and [[Francis Douce]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Oruch |first=Jack B. |date=1981 |title=St. Valentine, Chaucer, and Spring in February |jstor=2847741 |journal=Speculum |volume=56 |issue=3 |pages=534–565 |doi=10.2307/2847741 |issn=0038-7134 |quote=The idea that Valentine's Day customs perpetuated those of the Roman Lupercalia has been accepted uncritically and repeated, in various forms, up to the present. Most of those who offer this now traditional explanation cite no sources... Butler's ideas were prompted, in all probability, by a confused knowledge [or ...] wishful or pious fantasy. }}</ref>