Saturnalia is generally described as the Roman predecessor to Christmas, but that is not entirely correct. It is really hard to pin down the details of Saturnalia because most of our information about it comes from scraps of texts, or random side comments. In fact, the most information we have comes from the author Macrobius who wrote a story that took place during the festival. So, we do not have any sources which clearly explain what Saturnalia is. What we can gather, though, is that Saturnalia was more aptly described as a carnival: a time when normal restrictions are suspended, where the world is turned upside down, and was a temporary relief from the real world.
Dedicated to the agricultural god Saturn, it started on December 17th but kept being extended over the years until it lasted about a week. Technically, the actual religious sacrifice was done on the first day with the holiday spirit taking over for the next few days, which is definitely the opposite for us where we build up to the main event. There were actually a few other festivals after Saturnalia, but as Saturnalia grew and kept being extended, it eventually swallowed up the next few festivals.
The aspects that we recognize would be the feasting, seeing art performances (hopefully more in tune than the elementary school ones), as well as the giving of gifts. While it was customary to give gifts, some of the most popular gifts were sweets, lamps, and/or money. In Macrobius’ writings, we find that a man named Umber gave his friend Martial several gifts including: note-books, tooth-picks, sponges, a table-cloth, a wine cup, beans, olives, wine, figs, and plums. Martial needed to use 8 slaves just to carry everything home - and was Martial happy with these gifts? Well, actually no. He would have much preferred to have the money instead! The very first emperor of Rome, Emperor Augustus was known to give out some great gifts (clothing, silver and gold coins) as well as some gag gifts (rough cloth of goat hair, pokers, tongs). We even have pay stubs from Roman soldiers which shows their pay getting deducted for their food, clothes, and Saturnalia costs. So, if anybody tries to tell you that Christmas is not a commercial holiday meant to make you spend money, well, the Romans might disagree.
Another aspect of the holiday that thankfully we would never recognize today would be the role reversal of slaves and owners. Saturnalia was the one time of year that slaves could wear “normal” clothes and they would be allowed to eat at the dinner table. Actually, depending on the household, the owners might even serve their slaves! Truly a joyous time of year when the household slaves would be free to eat, wear people clothes, gamble, and tell their masters exactly what they thought of them without fear of immediate repercussion!
Pliny the Younger particularly enjoyed Saturnalia as his slaves were so busy partying that he was able to find a quiet room and study without interruption. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. While Pliny wanted to extend the holiday, his friend Tacitus would annoy him by making him go “back to school”.
One famous anecdote has one of the emperor’s advisors, Narcissus (a freedman who used to be a slave) going to speak to the Roman army who refused to get on with the invasion of Britain. Unfortunately for him, they were not in a good mood and really did not want to hear from him, so as soon as he stood in front of them, several men started yelling “Hooray for Saturnalia”. They were alluding to the fact that slaves are only allowed to wear “normal people” clothes during the festival, basically rubbing it in his face that he used to be a slave. But at least the soldiers got a decent laugh out of it and the rebellion ended.
Many people tend to equate Saturnalia with our Christmas, but the reality is much more complex. Considering how Saturnalia began as a strictly pagan festival, when Christianity gained power over the Roman Empire, they tried to cancel the celebration. Of course, you cannot simply cancel one of the most popular celebrations of the year. In 362 CE the Council of Laodicea forbade Christians from celebrating Saturnalia. This obviously did not work. Later on in 1110 CE, the church ordered Christians to fast for Christmas rather than feasting as an attempt to stop them from celebrating Saturnalia. I think you can figure out whether that one stuck or not.
As we have learned here, you just can't stop the party.
Which is why the church eventually took over the holiday and morphed it into a Christian celebration. As Christianity spread, several other pagan celebrations around the same time of year were also reinterpreted to fit the church’s vision and thrown in the mix. Add in a lot of Yule from Scandinavia. Throw in a jolly old fat Saint and all of a sudden you have the modern Christmas holidays! This also explains why different countries or even regions have their own little quirky Christmas traditions. These little quirks are usually leftovers from the original pagan ritual which Christmas co-opted.
Therefore, the shift from Saturnalia to Christmas is not an easy straight line. Saturnalia was essentially a carnival that lasted for several days. Our modern Christmas is the culmination of several holidays from all around Europe blending together as Christianity spread. 2000 years of culture has significantly changed the elements of the party. But of course, we’ve managed to keep quite a few major elements such as gift giving, decorating your house, wearing your nice “people” clothes, and the general outwardly social aspect of it.
Text: Cindy G. Levesque. MENAM Archaeology. Copyright 2022.
Images: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.
Further Reading
Churco, J. M., 1938. Christmas and the Roman Saturnalia. The Classical Outlook, 16(3), pp. 25-26.
Evans, H. B., 1978. Horace, Satires 2.7: Saturnalia and Satire. The Classical Journal, 73(4), pp. 307-312.
Hadzits, G. D., 1937. The Roman Saturnalia. The Classical Outlook, 15(3), pp. 17-18.
Michels, A. K., 1990. Roman Festivals: October - December. The Classical Outlook, 68(1), pp. 10-12.
Sharland, S., 2005. Saturnalian Satire: Proto-Canivalesque reversals and inversions in Horace "Satire" 2.7. Acta Classica, Volume 48, pp. 103-120.
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