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Luperci
Roman religion
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association with Lupercalia
- In Lupercalia
…a corporation of priests called Luperci. The origins of the festival are obscure, although the likely derivation of its name from lupus (Latin: “wolf”) has variously suggested connection with an ancient deity who protected herds from wolves and with the legendary she-wolf who nursed Romulus and Remus. As a fertility…
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Roman priesthood
- In priesthood: Ancient Greece and Rome
…the god Mars), and the Luperci, whose sacerdotal functions were confined to the Lupercalia. The fetiales were Roman officials employed in making treatises or declarations of war, whose work gradually fell into disuse at the beginning of the empire (late 1st century bce) when the state cult was in decline…
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