What is Saturnalia?

Saturnalia was a festival in ancient Roman Empire, a celebration of God Saturn. Originally occurring on December 17th, the Romans later prolonged it until December 23rd. The celebration consisted of a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn, at the Roman Forum. Besides that, there were public feasts, exchange of gifts, revelry and a carnival atmosphere. During the celebration, the laws of Roman society would be ignored. Gambling would become legal, and the masters would serve their servants and slaves. According to the poet Catullus, Saturnalia was “the best of days”.

Who was Saturn?

In Roman tradition, Saturn was a god of agriculture and fertility. He ruled the world in the mythical Golden Age, when people lived off the land, didn’t have to work hard and were all equal. The Greek equivalent of Saturn is Cronus, the father of Zeus. The Ancient Greeks called the celebration dedicated to him Kronia.

What does it all have to do with Christmas?

Firstly, Saturnalia was still popular when Christianity emerged as a major religion in the Roman Empire, in the 3rd and the 4th century. Therefore, it is probable that Christians adopted many elements of Saturnalia celebrations. Also, they made them elements of the Christmas celebrations. It is probably one of the pre-Christian holidays that affected modern Christmas the most.

Christmas is not associated with revelry today, but it is known that different Protestant Christian groups banned the celebration of Christmas. For them, it was too pagan and unbiblical. Besides that, Christmas and Saturnalia are also related to other European pagan festivals that occurred around the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. After that day, the nights get shorter, so in ancient times, people celebrated “the return of the Invincible Sun”.

Read our next article here: Jesus Christ Birth

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