Posted
on December 17, 2015
You
may have heard that some of our modern Christmas and New Year's
traditions harken back to Ancient Roman holiday fun—specifically,
to the ancient Saturnalia festival.
Apparently
we have evidence that on this date way back in 497 B.C.E. (otherwise
known as B.C.), the very first Saturnalia festival was celebrated.
That's more than 2,500 years ago!
Ancient
Romans celebrated their god Saturn every December 17. Eventually
their celebrations stretched for several weeks—from December 17 to
December 23. This festival was also about light, which is why it was
held around the winter solstice. For months now, the days have been
getting shorter and shorter—but soon the days will begin to grown
longer again. This renewal of light, plus the coming new year, were
very good reasons to celebrate.
Here
are some of the traditions from the Roman's Saturnalia:
- There was an animal sacrifice with carefully carried out rituals in the Temple of Saturn.
- There was a public banquet.
- People didn't work.
- In private, within families and groups of friends, there were gifts exchanged.
- There were many parties.
- Gambling was permitted (it was usually against the law).
- Role-reversals were common. For example, masters would serve their slaves a meal, and masters and slaves even swapped clothing.
- Some people decorated trees.
- Dress codes were relaxed.
- It was a time of generosity. Wealthy people would pay a month's rent for people who couldn't afford it, for example.
I
think you can see a few likenesses between Saturnalia and
Christmas...but there are plenty of differences, too. Still, holidays
of all sorts evolve and change, spread and shrink, and influence
other customs.
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