Friends, Romans, naked wolf-men ...

Friends, Romans, naked wolf-men ... why an ancient festival is still controversial



This article is more than 6 years old
The annual Lupercalia festival turned society upside down – and the location of its starting point is still hotly debated

their view of nudity. In fact the opposite was true. It was only during exceptional occasions that Romans were freed from their social norms – and the most spectacular occasion was the annual Lupercalia festival.

From the earliest days of Rome, 15 February was reserved for this strange festival. It was so unusual that Cicero disparaged the festival as savage and uncivilised remnants of primitive times. A closer look at the rituals might explain his attitude: men of the nobility stripped down to their underwear in order to strike women with strips of goatskin. Classed as priests, these were not men of the cloth as we would understand it – Roman religion was nothing like modern Christianity or Islam – but young men of military age who showed off their muscles running around the Palatine hill and the Forum, the city centre of ancient Rome

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Battle of Missionary Ridge,

Image
The Battle of Missionary Ridge, also known as the Battle of Chattanooga, was fought on November 25, 1863, as part of the Chattanooga campaign of the American Civil War. Following the Union victory in the Battle of Lookout  Mountain on November 24, Union forces in the Military Division of the Mississippi under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant assaulted Missionary Ridge and defeated the Confederate Army of Tennessee, commanded by Gen. Braxton Bragg, forcing it to retreat to Georgia. In the morning, Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, commanding the Union Army of the Tennessee, made piecemeal attacks to capture the northern end of Missionary Ridge, Tunnel Hill, but were stopped by fierce resistance from the Confederate divisions of Maj. Gen. Patrick Cleburne, William H.T. Walker, and Carter L. Stevenson. In the afternoon, Grant was concerned that Bragg was reinforcing his right flank at Sherman's expense. He ordered the Army of the Cumberland, commanded by Maj. Gen. George Henry Thomas, to ...
Read more

87 Celebrities Who Got Totally Naked on Camera

Image
87 Celebrities Who Got Totally Naked on Camera When it comes to getting naked in front of a camera, Hollywood stars have all kinds of stories. Whether they’re working through a choreographed sex scene or just hanging out in the nude, most of your favorite actors have bared it all at one point or another and created some of the most iconic moments in film history. To be clear, we are never, ever advocating for stars to be pressured into nudity they’re uncomfortable with, or for movies to rely on objectifying women’s bodies in lieu of, say, giving them lines. Hollywood has gotten much wiser in handling those sensitive scenes, so there are now intimacy coordinators, who ensure the well-being of the actors on set. With everyone involved on the same page, nudity can do so much for a movie — and we love hearing what the stars who have gotten totally naked for their roles have to say about the process.While many actors share the experience of getting naked on camera, their memories and feelin...
Read more

The Weirdest Marriage in the World was in the 80's. Started when Swiss Corina Hoffman visited Kenya.

Image
The Weirdest Marriage in the World was in the 80's. Started when Swiss Corina Hoffman visited Kenya. Hofmann and her boyfriend Marco made a trip to Kenya. There, she met a Samburu wàrrior named Lketinga Leparmorijo and instantly found him irresistible. She left Marco, went back to Switzerland to sell her possessions, and, in 1987, returned to Kenya, determined to find Lketinga, which she eventually did. The couple moved in together, married, and had a daughter. Hofmann moved into her mother-in-law's manyatta (compound) and learned to live as a Samburu woman, fetching wood and water. She opened a small shop in the village, to sell basic goods. Hofmann suffered several hàrdships, including disèases (mainly malaria) and marital problems. Increasingly paranoid jealousy from her husband, possibly a side effect of his addiĉtion to the d.rug khat (miraa), severely dàmaged her relationship, and in 1990 she decided to return to Switzerland for good, taking her daughter with her. Later o...
Read more

Vizag on a record-breaking spree

Image
Vizag on a record-breaking spree The City of Destiny boasts of a horde of record holders who’ve made it to the hall of fame for undertaking various incredible feats. We bring you their story Everybody dreams of having their name go down in history and standing out in the crowdBut looks like mana Vizagites are particularly excited with the prospect of breaking and creating records by attempting things that others don’t even dream of! In an interesting trend of sorts that has been noticeable for a few years now, Vizag has managed to find a place for itself amongst various notable record books, from the Limca Book of World Records and the Asian Book of Records to the Guiness Book. And the attempts to get into this halls of fame range from noble and dangerous to downright quirky! In fact, in 2013 alone, Vizag has attempted almost 16 records.In the past two months, there have been three record-breaking attempts. While the YHAI’s trekking expedition is hoping to create nine new records (fast...
Read more

LIZ JONES: The world's most famous women are utterly desperate.

Image
LIZ JONES: The world's most famous women are utterly desperate . Their belief they have to be naked to be noticed is driven by fear It is billed as the Oscars of the fashion world. The annual red carpet Met Ball takes place on the first Monday in May inside New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art (though on the strength of the photos here, it should be renamed the Metropolitan Museum of A**e), hosted by American Vogue's global editor-in-chiefIt is meant to be a showcase for creativity. It is meant to demonstrate how the fashion industry really is a great art form, which these days is wholly inclusive of different shapes, races, genders and ages. Its purpose is to raise funds, ostensibly from its $350,000 (£279,000) per table-of-ten ticket sales, for the museum's work (though I do wonder whether the biggest stars stump up a bean) and to that end, sets its invitees a different theme each year on which to base their outfits. This time, it was florals. What's not to love ...
Read more