February 5, 45 B.C.E.: Suicide of Cato, Roman patriot and philosopher.

February 23, 155 C.E.: Polycarpus, disciple of the Apostle John, arrested and burned at the stake.

Ancient Events
February 1, 1587 C.E.: The English Queen Elizabeth I signs Mary Stewart?s death sentence.
February 10, 60 C.E.: Traditional date for the shipwreck of St. Paul on Malta.
February 23, 303 C.E.: Roman emperor Diocletian orders the general persecution of the Christians.

Ancient Festivals
Feb 13-21: Parentalia
Festival dedicated to the family dead. Roman feast of All Souls celebrated on the dies parentales, the last of which was a public ceremony, the Feralia, while the rest were days reserved for private celebrations of the rites to the family dead. These were dies religiosi on which the magistrates did not were the praetexta, temples were closed and no weddings celebrated.

Feb 15: Lupercalia:
Participating priestly colleges were the Luperci Quintilia and Fabii. Sacrifices were made of goats, one dog, and cakes made by the Vestal Virgins from the first flour of the last harvest. Blood from the sacrificial knife was smeared on the foreheads of two luperci (priests) and wiped off with a milky wool scrap, then the men had to laugh. The skins of the sacrificed goats were cut into strips, some worn around the waists of the otherwise naked youths and some made into flails. Then followed a footrace from the Lupercal cave, around the Palatine hill, up and down the sacred way in the Forum and back to the cave. Bystanders were struck with the goat-skin flails. It was believed that women would become pregnant when touched by the goat-skins.