Valentine's Day in Ancient Rome

What are the origins of Valentine's Day?Perhaps the answer lies in a pagan festival that starts with a sacrifice in a cave above Ancient Rome.What connects the naked running through the streets of Rome to Valentine's Day today? How did the onset of Christianity in Rome effect celebrations? And when did Valentine's Day as we know it today first take off?Joining Kate to find out all about this, is friend of the show and author, Emma Southon. Check out Emma's book A History of the Roman Empire in 21 Women, here.This podcast was edited by Amy Haddow and produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.All music from Epidemic Sounds.Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.Voting is now open for the Listener's Choice Award at this year's Podcast Awards! UK & Ireland listeners please place your vote on the Spotify mobile app here: https://open.spotify.com/s/xhg6PJa Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.