The
transition from ancient to present and pagan to Christian:
4th Century CE, after which a new
winter holiday began to be celebrated in Rome: Christmas. But how was
the pagan festival of Saturnalia celebrated, and how did it influence
and morph into the Christmas celebrations that we know and love?
Saturnalia
was held in honour of the
Roman god Saturn and was supposed to
represent the revelries of the Golden Age of men: a mythical time
where men and gods lived in harmony. Saturnalia itself was an
adaptation of the Ancient Greek festival known as Kronia (named after
the Greek equivalent of Saturn, Kronos), which was celebrated in
midsummer rather than midwinter. It is thought to signify the end of
the harvest season to honour Saturn, a god associated with
agriculture. Saturnalia was generally considered a merry festival,
with lots of feasting and exchanging of gifts. A lot of customs that
we associate with Christmas can be traced back to ancient origins,
but Saturnalia had its own customs and traditions too.
Some of
the key components to celebrating Saturnalia were the reversal of
roles: dress codes were relaxed as Romans donned colourful dinner
wear instead of a toga and slaves and masters ate together; perhaps
the masters even served food to the slaves as Saturnalia practices
varied over time. Gambling was also permitted and even encouraged for
slaves and masters alike as the feasting and merriment got underway.
There was the custom of giving gifts, particularly pottery or wax
figures known as sigillaria, as
well as other items such as tablets, dice, toys, candles and many
more. Gifting verses, in a similar practice to writing Christmas
cards, was also common, as documented by Martial and Catullus.
Another practice that is attested is the crowning of a Saturnalicius
princeps (‘Ruler of the Saturnalia’) who
is seen as the master of the proceedings and his commands have to be
obeyed by the guests at the feast. It is possible that this
originated as a satiric response to the Roman emperors being known as
princeps (‘ruler’
or ‘leader’) rather than rex (‘king’),
as this tradition was only attested in the Imperial period of Roman
history.
Saturnalia
was overall a jolly time of year for Ancient Romans, and celebrations
were enjoyed by all. The phrase ‘Io Saturnalia’ is akin to ‘Merry
Christmas’, and has a strongly emotive ritual connotation. The
festival sets the precedence
for Christmas celebrations, and it is
undeniable that Saturnalia’s influence lingers on today. The
history of the festival is interesting as the traditions shift to
reflect the current status of Rome, and eventually, as Rome becomes
Christian in the 3rd Century CE the customs begin to shift to reflect
this.
The
traditions of the Saturnalia were always fluid. During Augustus’
reign, the festival was only two days long, yet Lucian, a later
imperial poet, describes it as a seven-day event. Caligula tried to
curtail it to five days, but the festivities persisted. The date also
shifts; it is always in December, but the climax of the festival
shifted from December 25th to the winter solstice and back again. The
emperor Domitian tried to assert his authority by making it into a
public banquet rather than the private feasting that generally marked
the celebrations so that he could control the celebrations.
Saturnalia was a festival that was constantly evolving, and this
lends itself to a shift from pagan worship to Christian worship.
Rome
officially became Christian in 313 CE, but the transition from a
pagan society to a Christian society was not an entirely smooth one.
Customs, traditions and beliefs were amalgamated into the new
Christian society. Rome was not a stranger to fusing different
beliefs and traditions: examples such as the worship of Sulis Minerva
at Bath (a combination of the Roman goddess Minerva and the local
goddess Sulis) shows that beliefs were flexible within Roman society,
and the transition of Saturnalia into Christmas furthers this idea.
There is
evidence that Saturnalia as a festival was celebrated for around a
century after the conversion of Rome to Christianity. The religious
aspects of the festival honouring Saturn appear to have been
gradually lost, instead becoming a popular festival designed to bring
happiness in the bleak winter season. The connection with mid-winter
and the birth of Jesus Christ wasn’t made until the 2nd century CE,
and the first known celebration of Christmas celebrating the birth of
Christ is from 354 CE. Jesus’ actual date of birth is unknown, and
scholars have estimated that he could have been born in June or
perhaps around the spring equinox. Regardless, there is no evidence
that the widely celebrated date of Christmas was his actual date of
birth.
The date
of December 25th specifically likely comes from the Roman festival of
dies natalis solis invicti (‘day
of the birth of the unconquered sun’), a festival specifically
celebrating the birth of the sun. This festival was more specifically
religious than the general merriment of Saturnalia, and it is noted
that Constantine, the first Christian emperor, was brought up in the
cult of the Sun, so it is possible that the date of Christmas was
designed to replace this festival specifically rather than the more
ambiguous dates of Saturnalia.
The Catholic Church does not like to
associate itself with pagan influences; after all, Christians faced
persecution from the polytheistic Roman society for many years.
However, it is likely that Christmas traditions and customs do stem
from the pagan festival of Saturnalia, even if it is circumstantial,
as Christianity became the dominant religion in Rome and overtook the
previous pagan traditions. Winter festivals are common around the
world, and it makes sense that Saturnalia would have direct
influences over the new festival of Christmas in the shifting
landscape of the late Roman empire. Gift-giving, feasting and a
hearty celebration in December could describe either Saturnalia or
Christmas, but Christmas has evolved even further from its pagan
roots and even its deeply Christian ties to become a time of joy
around the world as families come together and celebrate the year
that has passed. Saturnalia did not become Christmas in a linear way,
but its influence lingers on.
Written
by Mansi Dhokia
https://www.academuseducation.co.uk/post/how-saturnalia-became-christmas-the-transition-from-ancient-to-present
