Ah Valentine’s Day, symbolic of declarations of love across the world. And looking at the current state of that world in which we humans reside it would certainly do to spread the love as thickly and as fast as possible with every trowel we can muster.
That said, demonstrating not only love for each other but in equal measure for all living creatures along with the earth, sea, rivers and sky that combine to provide that essential eco-support blanket to us all.
St Valentine Baptising St Lucilla - Jacopo Bassano 1575
February the 14th also known as Saint Valentine’s Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine. A holiday in Rome in honour of St Valentine or Valentinus, a Roman priest who was martyred around AD 269 during the rather short reign of Emperor Claudius Gothicus who died of the plague after a mere 1 year and 4 months in the chair.
Valentinus was buried on the Via Flaminia in Rome. Via Flaminia was an ancient Roman road leading from Rome across the Apennine Mountains to Ariminum (Rimini) on the coast of the Adriatic Sea.
The sheer ruggedness of the Appenine terrain made Flaminia the main and only real option for Romans travelling between Etruria, Latium and Campania and the Po Valley. Construction began in 220BC during the censorship of Gaius Flaminius but the road was improved by various emperors over the years including Augustus who rebuilt the bridges, a new tunnel constructed by Vespasian in 70 AD at the Pass of Intercisa and Trajan repaired many of the bridges as per inscriptions that still exist.
St Valentine’s Day is celebrated as a tribute to the martyred priest every year. While the day originated in Europe with changing significance it has only been celebrated in North America since the 19th century, but has spread slowly and steadily to the rest of the world.
Remember love is action as well as languid romance; we have much to show and save.