A Note On Propertius 4.1.25–26

At 4.1.25–26 Propertius has a plowman perform the rites of the Lupercalia. But the Luperci were usually conceived of as herdsmen, and a plowman is hardly a suitable choice for a ritual that required those performing it to run about the place. This note suggests that Propertius is alluding to a second ritual, one which did involve a plow and which was also connected–like the Lupercalia– with Rome’s founders, Romulus and Remus

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