10 Valentine’s Day Facts You Probably Didn’t Know
6. Roman Soldiers Were Asked To Draw Dates From A Bowl
Emperor Claudius II was the kind of man red-blooded males the world over may declare as being "some lad" today. His antics have become stuff of legend, and it's all because he didn't much care for the idea of marriage.
In the Emperor's mind, married men made poorer soldiers, so he encouraged his troops to play around. That's when things turned into the kind of college game one might attribute to Stifler and the rest of the American Pie movie cast.
One idea Claudius had (to celebrate the Roman festival Juno) was ordering his soldiers to pick the names of women at random. The name chosen would become that man's 'Valentine' for the rest of the year, and he'd also be required to wear her name on his sleeve.
That's quite the Valentine's gift for those poor Roman women, one we can't quite see flying today. If you've ever wondered where the phrase, 'wearing your heart on your sleeve' comes from, wonder no longer.