Goats would be sacrificed, and skinned. Those men who took part would be dressed in the skins of the goats, and nothing else (if even that), with so little left concealed that there could be no possible doubt that they were male.

Aside :

Ovid tells a story to explain this. Hercules and his lover, Omphale, before they went to sleep, decided to exchange garments. Faunus advanced on the two in the dark, wishing to make love to Omphale. Fooled by the softness of the robe Hercules was wearing, Faunus made advances on Hercules, who did not appreciate this sort of attention, at all. Ever since, Faunus has insisted that his male worshippers be unclad, so that similar embarassing misunderstandings could not occur, according to Ovid.

It's an amusing story, to be sure, but it is likelier that the ritual motivated the story, than vice versa, given the late date of the appearance of this story.

A pair of young men would be brought before the priest, who would touch the bloody knife to their foreheads, and then wash the blood away with wool soaked in milk. At this act, they were to laugh.

What is the significance of this, ie. what is the spirit motivating the form? Nobody really knows. Even during the period of the Roman republic, the original significance of much of this material had been lost. But, one can guess.

Rome, in legend, had been founded by the twins Romulus and Remus, who had been suckled by a she-wolf in the Lupercal, a grotto in which a temple sacred to Faunus was located. Imagine a starving child being advanced on by a wolf. As dogs are prone to do, she gently closes her teeth on him, without breaking his skin. He is terrified. She carries the crying child back into her den, where he is sure he will be eaten. She has hunted, and the blood is dripping from her fangs.

She then releases him, and feeds him. Her fur, near where he nurses, is wet with milk, which rubs against his face, washing away the blood. He laughs out of relief.

Off hand, that would be our guess as to the significance of this action. The dagger is the sharp tooth of the she-wolf, dripping with the blood of her prey. The wool is her fur, moist with the milk she is feeding the twins with. Symbolically, the two young men have become Romulus and Remus.

That is to say, they have become those who gave Rome life, as an entity.

The young men would then run through the city, carrying bloody strips of skin from the sacrifice, with which they would strike those woman who wished to be struck. (Those who wished to be pregnant, would hold out their hands, and be struck on the back, according to one account I recall; another holds that they would be struck across the palms. I don't have any primary sources in front of me, so I'll have to do a little looking to see which seems more accurate).

Why? Of course, there is the cynical theory that this is simply an S & M festival, and that people were getting off on the pain. A less sarcastic point of view holds that this act was analogous to the beating of a rug. One beats a rug to drive out dust. Analogously, one strikes the worshipper to drive out any impurities that may be doing him (or, in this case, her) harm.

It is significant that goats have been sacrificed. Goats are animals traditionally associated with fertility, and sex. Even now, a lecherous old man is called "an old goat".

Why have Romulus and Remus be the ones to administer the blows? Only a guess ... It is in the bearing of children, that the life of the city is eternally renewed. Each mother continues the work which Romulus and Remus began, renewing that which they created in each generation. Who better, then, to deliver the purification needed to do so, that Romulus and Remus themselves?

How would be change this? Most of us, I suspect, would want to. The status of women has changed considerably in the last few thousand years. When they were chattel, as they were during the time the paterfamilias was in effect (that's the power of life and death the patriarch held over all in his household), they weren't inclined to ask questions like "isn't this a little sadistic?". Now they are, and so are we. I doubt that the casual whipping of those who may not be into that, would be so well received.

Plus, there is, of course, the simple reality that we live in Chicago. Did I mention that this festival occurs on Feb. 15? Picture a pair of naked young men running down Sheridan, carrying bloody strips of leather! Even if they weren't arrested, they'd end up losing most of their more sensitive appendages to frostbite. A cold midwinter day in Rome is 50 degrees Farenheit. In Chicago, it would hardly be unheard of, to see - 20 Farenheit at the same time.

Last, but not least, the entire concept of animal sacrifice is one that causes many great discomfort, right now. Bad enough, that animals die for our nourishment. To end one's life, and as far as we know, its existence, for something that doesn't seem necessary for our survival and good health seems reprehensible to many of us. But then, so do a great many ancient observances, like that of the lashing of the Sabbath breaker I mentioned above. The trick is to find a way of remembering the history in our rites, without reviving that which we now find sordid in it. (Click here to continue).