Valentine’s Day - Roman Style! The Bizarre History of the Holiday

It may now be all about chocolate hearts and roses, little baby Cupids and secret crushes, but Valentine's day may just have roots that are a little less wholesome.

Historians may be at a loss as to the true origins of the holiday, but a working theory dates it back to our favorite empire, the Romans! Every February 13-15 Romans would celebrate the feast of Lupercalia. The men sacrificed goats and a dogs, and subsequently whipped the women with the hides of their freshly slain sacrifices. And they say chivalry is dead.

We’re guessing it stung just a bit more than Cupid’s arrow, but women would actually line up to be whipped, believing the bizarre custom would make them fertile. The rather raucous celebration would include a matchmaking lottery, in which young men would pick the names of women out of a jar and spend the remainder of the evening coupled up… so to speak… On occasion if the union would work out for the evening, they’d stick it out for a time. Romance was alive and well, clearly.

As for the name? We may have Emperor Claudius II to thank. On two separate years in the 3rd century A.D. he executed two different men named Valentine, both on February 14th. We’re guessing, however, that it won’t be mentioned on any Hallmark cards.

Looking for more historic reads? Visit our online library at www.typerse.com for a wide variety of ebooks, audiobooks, music, and more, accessible anytime from your favorite devices.