Nothing is more associated with love than Valentine's Day flowers. We usually give roses, of course, along with other traditional gifts such as chocolate, heart-shaped candies or cards, etc. Almost all of these items and symbols come from antiquity with a lot of interesting mythology and historical background to them.Valentine's Day started sometime in the Christian Roman times. Most cultures have had a day similar to Valentine's, but the timing and (often) the symbolism varied. Our modern, Western day and tradition comes from a mixture of the ancient Roman worship of Juno, Queen of the Gods and later, Christian traditions. Juno was celebrated on February 14 and people feasted on February 15. This feast was the rite of passage for young men of the time, who would draw names of available young girls and take them as a companion for a year.
Shortly before the Romans adopted Christianity, Claudius II, in an effort to bolster the Legions, outlawed marriage for young men. This was meant to make them fiercer warriors, since they would have no home, family, or wives to pine over while they were in the field. A Christian priest named Valentine saw this as unjust and secretly performed marriages in spite of the law.
