![]() (The exact dates shifted about a bit until Julius Caesar fixed the calendar, creating the “Julian” calendar.)Īugustus made attempts to reduce the holiday period back to three days Caligula tried to reduce it back to five days, but even that didn’t really work. With the feast for his wife Ops, though, falling two days later on 19 December, the two soon blended to become three days, and before you knew it, it was a whole week. It was originally celebrated just one day, to honour Saturn. In our modern Gregorian calendar, the start of the Roman holiday of Saturnalia now falls on 17th December. Unsurprisingly, it also became a time for expressing political satire at plays. Take advantage of the freedoms December allows,Īs our ancestors intended.” - Horace, Satires 2.7.4-5 Changes to the Roman calendar moved the climax of Saturnalia to December 25th, around the time of the date of the winter solstice.Saturnalia by Antoine-François Callet / wikimedia / 1783 / CC0 1.0īy tradition, it became as well a period during which you could say what you wanted without fear of punishment. The Roman poet Horace says to his slave: By the time Lucian described the festivities, it was a seven-day event. During the reign of the Emperor Augustus (63 BC-AD 14), it was a two-day affair starting on December 17th. "Saturnalia grew in duration and moved to progressively later dates under the Roman period. Numerous archaeological sites from the Roman coastal province of Constantine, now in Algeria, demonstrate that the cult of Saturn survived there until the early third century AD. "Saturnalia originated as a farmer's festival to mark the end of the autumn planting season in honour of Saturn ( satus means sowing). an occasional ducking of corked faces in icy water - such are the functions over which I preside.' ![]() Drinking and being drunk, noise and games of dice, appointing of kings and feasting of slaves, singing naked, clapping. 'During my week the serious is barred: no business allowed. The poet Lucian of Samosata (AD 120-180) has the god Cronos (Saturn) say in his poem, Saturnalia: Family households threw dice to determine who would become the temporary Saturnalian monarch. The wealthy were expected to pay the month's rent for those who couldn't afford it, masters and slaves to swap clothes. "Saturnalia saw the inversion of social roles. Saturnalia by Ernesto Biondi 1909 at the Buenos Aires Botanical Gardens "The first-century AD poet Gaius Valerius Catullus described Saturnalia as 'the best of times': dress codes were relaxed, small gifts such as dolls, candles and caged birds were exchanged. This was Saturnalia, the pagan Roman winter solstice festival. A time for feasting, goodwill, generosity to the poor, the exchange of gifts and the decoration of trees. "It was a public holiday celebrated around December 25th in the family home. Another such famous celebration was Saturnalia in ancient Rome, which was ultimately subsumed by Christmas: Such famous archeological sites as Stonehenge and Newgrange were aligned to the winter solstice, and there are many holidays that originated from or gravitated to this solstice day, including We Tripantu in Chile, the Zoroastrian Maidyarem in Iran, Dongzhi in Asia, Hanukkah in Judaism, Yule in ancient northern Europe, and Christmas in fourth century Rome. ![]() Today's encore selection - from Did the Romans Invent Christmas? The winter solstice, the shortest day of the year that grew to significance throughout the world because of the uncertainty of living through the bleak winter, the desire to have days lengthen again, and the need for brightness against the encroaching gloom.
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