Lupercal

Latin > English (Lewis & Short)

Lŭpercal: ālis, n. Lupercalis,
I a grotto on the Palatine Hill, sacred to the Lycean Pan (Lupercus): gelidā monstrat sub rupe Lupercal, Verg. A. 8, 342; v. Serv. ad loc.: quamquam Velia non est vilior quam Lupercal, Cic. Fam. 7, 20, 1: forsitan et quaeras cur sit locus ille Lupercal, Ov. F. 2, 381.—Hence,
   A Lŭpercālis, e, adj., of or belonging to the Lupercalia, Lupercal: sacrum, Suet. Aug. 31.—
   B Hence, <number opt="n">plur.</number> as subst.: Lŭpercālĭa, ĭum and ōrum, n., the festival of the Lycean Pan (Lupercus), celebrated in February, in which the priests (Luperci), with their faces painted and only a girdle about their loins (cinctuti, Ov. F. 5, 101), ran about the city striking the women whom they met, a ceremony supposed to make them fruitful: ad Lupercalia, Cic. Phil. 2, 34, 87; 2, 33, 84: hodierni diei res gestas Lupercalibus habebis, id. Q. Fr. 2, 13, 4; cf. Ov. F. 2, 267 sqq.; Serv. ad Verg. A. 8, 343.