Saturnalia

The First Christmas?

Roman Bath Murals -Couple (Red)
Carloni, Marco
21 in. x 20 in.
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Officially Saturnalia took place on December the 17th. However it was such a good party that people liked to keep it going! There are reports that over the years the Saturnalia festival varied from a few days to a whole month in length. The most common period cited is of a week, from December 17th to December 23rd.

Saturnalia was the largest festival of the Roman year with much eating, drinking and general merrymaking. Normal social rules were relaxed and even slaves were given time off. Gift giving was also common during the festival.

Candles were also a feature of Saturnalia. Since the winter solstice is the darkest part of the year, midwinter festivals in many cultures included flames to represent a symbolic return of the sun in the months ahead.

As with Christmas today, not everyone enjoyed the festivities. Spoilsports such as Seneca complained about the "mob" letting itself go.

At some time around the 4th century, the Christians instigated Christmas. In doing so, it's thought that they deliberately chose a date that would match up with both Saturnalia and the pagan midwinter feasts. In this way they avoided antagonising those who still observed the older ways.

Io, Saturnalia!