> [Vuković, Krešimir](vukovic.md). *The Roman Festival of the Lupercalia: History, Myth, Ritual and Its Indo-European Heritage*. PhD thesis (Classical Languages and Literature), University of Oxford, Merton College, 2015. > #nodoi > Later turned into a book {[[vukovic-2023]]} ## Abstract > The Roman festival of the [Lupercalia](lupercalia.md) is one of the most discussed issues in the field of pre-Christian Roman religion. Hardly a year goes by without an article on the subject appearing in a major Classics journal. But the festival presents a range of issues that individual articles cannot address. This thesis is an attempt to present a modern analysis of the phenomenon of the Lupercalia as a whole, including literary, archaeological and historical evidence on the subject. The first section presents the ancient sources on the Lupercalia, and is divided into five chapters, each analysing a particular aspect of the festival: fertility, purification, the importance of the wolf and the foundation myth, the mythology of Arcadian origins, and Caesar’s involvement with the Lupercalia of 44 BC. The second section places the Lupercalia in a wider context, discussing the festival’s topography and the course of the running Luperci, its relationship to other lustration rituals, and its position in the Roman calendar, ending with an appraisal of the changes it underwent in late Antiquity. The third section employs methods from linguistics, anthropology and comparative religion to show that the Lupercalia involved a ritual of initiation, which was also reflected in the Roman foundation myth. The central chapter of this section discusses the methodology used in comparative Indo-European mythology, and offers a case study that parallels the god of the festival ([Faunus](faunus.md) with Rudra of Vedic Hinduism. The last chapter considers other parallels with Indian religion, especially the relationship between flamen and brahmin. The thesis challenges a number of established theories on the subject and offers new evidence to show that the festival has Indo-European origins, but also that it played an important role throughout Roman history. ## Acknowledgements > This project took three and a half years to complete, which was made possible with the help of many different individuals and institutions. I would first and foremost like to thank my supervisor, [Stephen Heyworth](heyworth.md) who has been with the thesis every step of the way, from its inception to the very end. His help has proven invaluable in several respects, not least as he patiently bore with my English, and made it sound a bit less Illyrian. Given the multiplicity of different approaches I thought this subject deserves, I have sought the assistance of several co-supervisors over the years: [Andreas Willi](willi.md) in matters of Indo-European comparativism, [Anna Clark](clark.md) in Roman history and religion, and [Gavin Flood](flood.md) in comparative religion and Hindu studies. Without them, this project would not be as diverse. I would like to thank the members of the [Oriental Faculty](oxford-oriental-studies-department.md), especially [James Benson](benson.md) who taught me Sanskrit, as well as [Elizabeth Tucker](tucker.md) and [Christopher Minkowski](minkowski.md), who welcomed me to lectures on Vedic religion and Vedic Sanskrit classes. > <br> > My doctoral study at Oxford would not have been possible without the generosity of [The Clarendon Fund](clarendon-fund.md) and [Merton College](merton-college.md), who awarded me with a joint scholarship for three years. The final year would not see completion without the help of both [Merton College](merton-college.md) and the [Faculty of Classics](oxford-classics-department.md), especially [Juliane Kerkhecker](kerkhecker.md) as the head of language teaching. [The Craven Fund](craven-fund.md) of the [Oxford Faculty of Classics](oxford-classics-department.md) funded my research stay at Rome, where I enjoyed the resources and the hospitality of [The British School at Rome](british-school-at-rome-BSR.md), and of [The Pontifical Croatian College of St. Jerome](pontifical-croatian-college-of-st-jerome.md). > <br> > Various parts of the thesis were read by scholars whose valuable comments and suggestions lad to many improvements. Here I wish to thank Martin [West](west.md), Christopher [Pelling](pelling.md), Robert [Coates-Stephens](coates.md), Luke [Pitcher](pitcher.md), Matthew [Leigh](leigh.md), [Nicholas Purcell](purcell.md), and [Robert Parker](parker.md). I enjoyed a very useful discussion with my thesis examiners, [Matthew Robinson](robinson.md) and [Christopher Smith](smith-ch.md), which led to modifications in the final stage. I also owe a debt of gratitude to the many colleagues and friends who endured my countless queries, and helped me clarify some Lupercalian issues in conversation: [John](matthews-j.md) and [Caitlin Matthews](matthews-c.md), Nick [Allen](allen-n.md), Enrico [Prodi](prodi.md), [Ilya Yakubovich](yakubovich.md), [Jasminka Vejmelka](vejmelka.md), [Aleksandr Koptev](koptev.md), [Roger Woodard](woodard.md), [Tristan Franklinos](franklinos.md), [Daniel Jolowicz](jolowicz.md), [Tristan Elby](elby.md), as well as several audiences of the Work-in-Progress Graduate [Seminar](work-in-progress-graduate-seminar-in-language-and-literature.md) in Language and Literature (Oxford), participants of the British School at Rome ‘City of Rome 2013’ [course](course--British-School-at-Rome-City-of-Rome-2013.md), and audiences at several conferences. Special thanks goes to [Daniel Nečas Hraste](hraste.md) for opening my eyes to the beauty of Ovid's Fasti as an undergraduate, and for the many stimulating conversations on Roman religion that followed. It cannot be said how much the support and encouragment of my family has meant through the years. As all who know me also know how forgetful I am when it comes to names, I hope they will forgive any omissions, and still receive my gratitude unnamed. *Soli Deo Gloria*. ## Contents Abbreviations..............................................................5 Preface .......................................................................7 Introduction................................................................9 Section 1: Sources and Aspects of the Festival ..............17 1.1 Fertility.................................................................17 1.2 Purification ...........................................................39 1.3 Wolf, Cattle Raids and the Foundation Myth.............51 1.4 The Myth of Evander and Arcadian Origins ..............69 1.5 Caesar and the Lupercalia.......................................87 Section 2: The Lupercalia in Context ............................112 2.1 Topography...........................................................112 2.2 Lustrations ............................................................135 2.3 Rituals of Reversal.................................................150 Section 3: The Lupercalia in Comparison.......................167 3.1 Initiation: Typology and Origins..............................167 3.2. In Defence of Lost Causes .....................................216 3.3 Contrast and Competition ......................................256 Conclusion ..................................................................278 Bibliography ................................................................281