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history of the Lupercalia and the wearing of the goat skin may be a later development. 295 A.J.
Holleman goes so far as to suggest a wolf-masquerade and that the Luperci may have worn
masks in the form of wolves’ heads. 296 The Luperci do indeed bear some similarities to the
Hirpi, and etymological evidence may be of some use here. In his entry on Faunus in Roman
and European Mythologies, R. Schilling states that the epithet Lupercus, which is applied to
Faunus in his connection to the Lupercalia by Justin, 297 surely means, “wolf-man,” and, as
mentioned earlier, this is what the priests of this festival were called, the Luperci or wolf-men. 298
When one considers that there were priests and priestesses respectively named the Tauroi and
Arktoi in Greece, who were copies of their gods, it seems safe to conclude that the wolf-men of
Rome were meant to copy a wolf deity. 299
The epithet Lupercus also bears some analysis. It seems likely that the name Lupercus is
the Latin equivalent of the Greek name Lykaios, which may in turn connect Faunus with Pan
Lykaios 300 and the werewolf cults of Arcadia. 301 Augustine, following Varro, believes this to be
the case as he states in City of God. 302 It is possible that we should view Lupercus as one aspect
of the god Faunus in much the same way that Tinia Calusna, the chthonic Tinia, is one aspect of
the celestial Tinia. 303 Thus perhaps we should interpret Faunus Lupercus as the more fearsome
aspect of an otherwise generally benevolent deity. A second link to werewolf cults can again be
found in the costuming of the Luperci. At some point in the history of the festival, the Luperci
may have run their circuit around the city of Rome in the nude. As noted earlier, the shedding of
clothes is a common component of werewolf stories, and there may be a connection between the
nudity of lycanthropes and the ritual nudity of the Luperci. 304 These notions must, however,
remain in the realm of speculation.
295
Fowler 1925, 317.
296
Holleman 1974, 31-3.
297
Justin Apol. XLIII.1.7.
298
Eliade (1972, 3) states, “The fact that a people takes its ethnic name from the name of an animal always has a
religious meaning. More precisely, the fact cannot be understood except as the expression of an archaic religious
concept.” Nevertheless, Schilling (1992, 126) tries to deny the lupine nature of Faunus and explain away the name
of his priests. Schilling’s brief article on Faunus is full of contradictory statements.
299
Altheim 1938, 207.
300
Wiseman 1995b, 85; see also Ov. Met. 221-39.
301
Buxton 1994, 67.
302
August. De civ. D. 18,17.
303
Hostetter (1978, 263-4) demonstrates the dual nature of Tina as celestial and infernal in his discussion of a bronze
handle from Spina.
304 Buxton 1994, 69.
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