Note 592 — LIFE OF C. CÆSAR. (continued 2)
George Long translation
The Lupercalia are described in the Life of Romulus, c. 21. The festival was celebrated on the 15th of February. It was apparently an old shepherd celebration; and the name of the deity Lupercus appears to be connected with the name Lupus (wolf), the nurturer of the twins Romulus and Remus. Shakspere, who has literally transferred into his play of Julius Cæsar many passages from North's Plutarch, makes Cæsar say to the consul Antonius—
Forget not, in your speed, Antonius, To touch Calphurnia; for our elders say, The barren, touched in this holy chase, Shake off their sterile curse.
Act i. Sc. 2.