Which festival is described in the events?

• A. Saturnalia
• B. Festival of Artemis
• C. Lupercal
• D. Dionysia

Answer: (C)

The events described point to a festival marked by purification and fertility rites carried out by priests using goatskins. In this festival, goats are sacrificed, priests wear goatskins, and those skins are used in ritual actions intended to purify the city and promote fertility. That combination of goats, goatskins, a purification goal, and a fertility focus specifically aligns with the Roman Lupercalia, celebrated in mid-February.

Other festivals have different central features: Saturnalia emphasizes feasting, gift-giving, and social role reversals; Artemis’s festival centers on Artemis and related rituals; Dionysia revolves around theatre, wine, and dramatic performances. The described elements don’t match those, so the clues point most clearly to Lupercalia.