Valentine’s Day, a celebration of love wrapped in candy hearts, roses and chocolates, traces back to St. Valentine. But the origins are far more complex — and darker than the chocolate we indulge in on the day of love. Valentine’s Day is rooted in ancient Roman rituals, where sacrifice and secrecy intertwined with the idea of love.

One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men.