place
Lupercal
also: the Lupercal
The cave-shrine at the foot of the Palatine in Rome, sacred to Faunus/Lupercus and the legendary den of the she-wolf who suckled Romulus and Remus. Cicero uses it as a byword for prime, expensive Roman real estate when comparing it to Velia (Fam. 7.20).
Reading notes
- Ad Familiares 7.20 §1 Velia is no cheaper than the Lupercal
The Lupercal was the cave-shrine below the Palatine, the legendary den of the she-wolf and some of Rome's priciest ground. Cicero's joke is that property at sleepy Velia costs as much as prime real estate in the capital, so Trebatius should keep his ancestral holdings there.