Luperci

, a number of priests at Rome, who a isted at the celebration of the Lupercalia, in honour of the god Pan, to whose service they were dedicated. This order of priests was the most ancient and respectable of all the sacerdotal offices. It was divided into two separate colleges, called Fabiani and Quin til i an i , from Fabius and Quintilius, two of their high priests. The former was instituted in honour of Romulus, and the latter of Remus. To these two sacerdotal bodies Julius Cæsar added a third, called from himself the Julii , and this action contributed not a little to render his cause unpopular, and to betray his ambitious and aspiring views. See: Lupercalia . Plutarch , Romulus .— Dio Ca ius , bk. 45 .— Virgil , Æneid , bk. 8 , li. 663 .