ACCA LARENTIA
In Roman mythology, Acca Larentia (or Acca Laurentia) was of Etruscan origin and connected with the worship of the Lares, from which her name was probably derived.
To some, Acca Laurentia symbolized the fertility the crops. She is also identified with the goddesses Larentina, Mana Genita, and Muta.
There are many versions of the Acca Larentia myth. In one, Hercules marries her off to the shepherd, Faustulus .and she becomes the adoptive mother of Romulus and Remus, whom she is said to have saved after they were thrown into the Tiber on the orders of Amulius. The statue on the left is a beautiful portrayal of her relationship with the twins.
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Faces of the Goddess
Another tradition holds that Larentia was a young woman approximately the same age as Romulus and Remus, during the reign of Ancus Marcius in the 7th century BC. In this version, she was awarded to Hercules as a prize in a game of dice, and locked in his temple with his other prize, a feast. When Hercules tired of her, he advised her to marry the first wealthy man she met, who turned out to be an Etruscan named Carutius (or Tarrutius, according to Plutarch). Larentia later inherited all his property and bequeathed it to the Roman people. Ancus, in gratitude for her generosity, allowed her to be buried in the Velabrum, and
instituted an annual festival, Larentalia, which was held on or around December 23, at which sacrifices were offered to the Lares. Plutarch explicitly states that this Laurentia was a different person from the Laurentia who was married to Faustulus, although other writers, such as Licinius Macer, portray both as the same character.
Yet another tradition holds that Larentia was neither the wife of Faustulus nor the consort of Hercules, but a prostitute called "Lupa" by the shepherds (literally "she-wolf", but colloquially "courtesan"). But in other accounts, Lupa was literally a she-wolf who raised Romulus and Remus in a cave, which later became a sacred site to the Roman people. Roman priests, called the Luperci, would gather at the cave where the infants, who were considered the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by Lupa. There, they would sacrifice a goat (for fertility) and a dog (for purification). The goat's hide would be cut into strips and dipped in the sacrificial blood. The priests would then take to the streets and gently slap both young women and the crops with the strips.
Roman women welcomed being touched with the hides because it was believed the strips would make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, all the young women would place their names in a large jar. Then the bachelors would each draw a name out of the jar and were paired for the year with the woman whose name they picked. These matches often ended in marriage. It is believed by many that this festival, called Lupercalia and celebrated in mid-February, was the eariest origin of Valentines Day. Around 498 C.E, Pope Gelasius deemed this Roman lottery system for romantic pairing as immoral and outlawed the ritual. It was at this time he declared February 14th to be St. Valentine's Day.
