Christmas has passed; gifts have been exchanged, turkeys have been stuffed and eaten and Christmas television specials have played. While the festive season may be over for us in the UK; it’s interesting to stop and think about how the ancient Romans celebrated and how that influences our traditions today.

Pre Christian Rome didn’t celebrate Christmas for obvious reasons. Instead during this time they had a remarkable festival called Saturnalia. Saturn was an agricultural deity who was said to have reigned over the world in the ‘Golden Age’. An era where it was supposed that humans lived in paradise with plentiful food. The key idea behind Saturnalia was the recreation of this lost mythic age. While there were many Greco-Roman festivals with a similar sentiment Saturnalia is by far the best well known (and one of the most interesting).

The 1st century Latin poet Catullus described Saturnalia week as “the best of days.”. Unlike Christmas Saturnalia lasted multiple days, starting on the 17th of December and continuing until the 23rd. It was a festival of opposites, centred around overturning the roles of day to day life especially for slaves. Slaves were allowed to wear the pileus (the cap a slave got when they were freed resembling a smurf’s hat). Slaves were treated to a banquet of the kind usually enjoyed by their masters.Ancient sources differ on the circumstances: some suggest that master and slave dined together, while others indicate that the slaves feasted first, or that the masters actually served the food. Slaves were allowed to talk back to their masters without fear of abuse.

Much like Christmas Saturnalia was a religious festival. The statue of Saturn at his main temple normally had its feet bound in wool, which was removed for the holiday as an act of liberation. There was a sacrifice of a young pig by a priest to the god. Following the sacrifice the Roman Senate arranged a lectisternium, a ritual of Greek origin that typically involved placing a deity's image on a sumptuous couch, so Saturn was able to join the party.Following this everyone in Rome sat communally and ate an exquisite banquet.

Saturnalia was also seen as an excuse to party! Torches lined the streets enabling citizens to spend time outside in the evening. When citizens passed each other in the streets a customary greeting of ‘Io Saturnalia’ was yelled.There is a theory that Santa Claus’s ‘Ho, ho, ho’ has its origins in this cry of “Io”. Gambling and dice-playing, normally prohibited or at least frowned upon, were permitted for all, even slaves. The prizes for these being coins and nuts. Excess was encouraged, rampant drunkenness was normal for Saturnalia.

Another obvious parallel with Christmas is the tradition of gift giving. The Sigillaria on 19 December was a day of gift-giving. People would usually expect a small gift, pottery or sigillaria which were wax figurines specific to the holiday. Children received toys as gifts. There was a strict policy of courtesy surrounding gift giving. It was scandalous if someone gave you an expensive gift and you didn’t give them something of equal value. Furthermore you were expected to provide gifts for everyone who came to your door (similar to trick or treating at Halloween).

The final aspect of Saturnalia was the Saturnalicius princeps ("Ruler of the Saturnalia"), who ruled as master of ceremonies for the proceedings. He was appointed by lot, usually a child or a slave and this tradition can still be seen in many European countries to this days. He could command guests to do all manner of ridiculous tasks such as singing naked. He was meant to create and (mis)rule a chaotic and absurd world.

Saturnalia influenced Christmas traditions and may have even influenced the date. In the fourth century AD, Pope Julius I (337–352) formalized that it should be celebrated on 25 December, around the same time as the Saturnalia celebrations. This may have been to create a Christian alternative to Saturnalia. It may have been to attract more citizens to Christianity.

While the holiday period is over, mark your calendars for December 17th 2019 and remember to shout ‘Io Saturnalia!’ to anyone you see.

For more information on Saturnalia watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OImabGvoQNs