Lupercus or Lubercus or Luberkus was a god in

Roman mythology Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans, and is a form of Roman folklore. "Roman mythology" may also refer to the modern study of these representations, and to th ...

. Lupercus was a protector of the farmers,

harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...

ing and packs of wild animals. Every year on 15 February in honor of him, the Romans held the

Lupercalia Lupercalia, also known as Lupercal, was a pastoral festival of Ancient Rome observed annually on February 15 to purify the city, promoting health and fertility. Lupercalia was also known as ''dies Februatus'', after the purification instruments ...

. He was an ancient Italian god, worshipped by shepherds as the promoter of fertility in sheep and protector of flocks. His sanctuary was the

Lupercal The Lupercal (from Latin ''wikt:lupa, lupa'' "female wolf") was a cave at the southwest foot of the Palatine Hill in Rome, located somewhere between the temple of Temple of Cybele (Palatine), Magna Mater and the Sant'Anastasia al Palatino. In t ...

, where she-wolf took care of

Romulus and Remus In Roman mythology, Romulus and (, ) are twins in mythology, twin brothers whose story tells of the events that led to the Founding of Rome, founding of the History of Rome, city of Rome and the Roman Kingdom by Romulus, following his frat ...

; this is why Lupercalia was a celebration that helped pregnant women. Lupercus is sometimes identified with the god Pan in

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

. The Roman god

Faunus In Religion in ancient Rome, ancient Roman religion and Roman mythology, myth, Faunus was the rustic god of the forest, plains and fields; when he made cattle fertile, he was called Inuus. He came to be equated in literature with the Greek god ...

is a variation of Lupercus, also linked to the festival of Lupercalia.

References

Roman gods Lupercalia Agricultural gods Nature gods {{AncientRome-myth-stub