LUPERCALIA.

LUPERCALIA. Shakespeare’s JULIUS CAESAR begins with the celebration of Lupercalia, which was held near the Lupercal cave. This wikipedia article gives the historical facts which Shakespeare followed. In the festival, naked Luperci (“brothers of the wolf—-“lupus” is Latin for wolf) ran through the streets along the boundaries of the ancient city, striking young women with thongs so as to make them fertile. During Lupercalia, a festival going back to the founding kings of Rome, Mark Anthony offered Julius Caesar a crown, but Caesar refused the suggested offer that he become the king of Rome.