Lupercalia: Ancient Rome’s Valentine’s Day

On February 15th, the ancient Romans celebrated their pagan “Valentine’s Day” with an annual festival called Lupercalia. Unlike Valentine’s Day, this event was a bloody, violent celebration inundated with animal sacrifices. Throughout the practice of Lupercalia, matchmaking, and hopes of repelling ill wishes were a constant part of the ancient Valentine’s Day, Lupercalia.  The precise …

The Portrayal of Women in Greek Mythology

From movies like Disney’s Hercules to the Percy Jackson series, countless traces of Greek mythology have found their way into the modern world. Within myths, readers follow heroes as they face the extremes of human experience along with a slew of monsters and angry gods. These stories carry moral values and present admirable qualities through …

Apuleius: Sorcerer, Fortune-hunter, and Cultist?

The sorcerer, Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis, purportedly bewitched a friend’s wealthy mother in 157 AD, and then nearly went to trial for that and murder. Romans and sorcerers are not usually associated, and though there may have been other sorcerers, their stories were likely lost to time. However, the most is known about Apuleius since he …