[Sansevierias] Happy Saturnalia

The Roman mid-winter festival of misrule - Saturnalia
<http://www.historyextra.com/feature/how-did-romans-celebrate-%E2%80%98christmas%E2%80%99>Tuesday 
17th December 2013  BBC History Magazine


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"How did the Romans celebrate ‘Christmas’?

"It is today associated with decorations, gift 
giving and indulgence. But how did the Romans 
celebrate during the festive season? English 
historian Dr Carey Fleiner, a senior lecturer in 
classical and medieval history at the University 
of Winchester, looks back at Saturnalia, the 
Roman mid-winter ‘festival of misrule’

"Q: What was Saturnalia, and how was it celebrated?

"A: It was the Romans’ mid-winter knees up!

"It was a topsy-turvy holiday of feasting, 
drinking, singing in the street naked, clapping 
hands, gambling in public and making noise.

"A character in Macrobius’s Saturnalia [an 
encyclopedic celebration of Roman culture written 
in the early fifth century] quotes from an 
unnamed priest of the god Saturn that, according 
to the god himself, during the Saturnalia “all 
things that are serious are barred”.  So while it 
was a holy day, it was also very much a festive day as well.

"The ordinarily rigid and conservative social 
restrictions of the Romans changed for example, 
masters served their slaves during a feast and 
adults would serve children, and slaves were allowed to gamble.

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Dice players in a wall painting from Pompeii

"And the aristocracy, who usually wore 
conservative clothes, dressed in brightly 
coloured fabrics such as red, purple and gold. 
This outfit was called the ‘synthesis’, which 
meant ‘to be put together’. They would ‘put 
together’ whatever clothes they wanted.

"People would also wear a cap of freedom the 
pilleum which was usually worn by slaves who had 
been awarded their freedom, to symbolize that 
they were ‘free’ during the Saturnalia.

"People would feast in their homes, but the 
historian Livy notes that by 217 BC there would 
also be a huge public feast at the oldest temple 
in Rome, the Temple of Saturn. Macrobius confirms 
this, and says that the rowdy participants would 
spill out onto the street, with the participants 
shouting, “Io Saturnalia!” the way we might greet 
people with ‘Merry Christmas!’ or ‘Happy New Year!’

"A small statue of Saturn might be present at 
such feasts, as if Saturn himself were there. The 
statue of Saturn in the temple itself spent most 
of the year with its feet bound in woolen strips. 
On the feast day, these binds of wool wrapped 
around his feet were loosened symbolizing that 
the Romans were ‘cutting loose’ during the Saturnalia.

"People were permitted to gamble in public and 
bob for corks in ice water. The author Aulus 
Gellius noted that, as a student, he and his 
friends would play trivia games. Chariot racing 
was also an important component of the Saturnalia 
and the associated sun-god festivities around 
that time by the late fourth century AD there might be up to 36 races a day.

"We say that during Christmas today the whole 
world shuts down the same thing happened during 
the Saturnalia. There were sometimes plots to 
overthrow the government, because people were 
distracted the famous conspirator Cataline had 
planned to murder the Senate and set the city on 
fire during the holiday, but his plan was 
uncovered and stopped by Cicero in 63 BC.

"Saturnalia was described by first-century AD 
poet Gaius Valerius Catullus as “the best of 
times”. It was certainly the most popular holiday in the Roman calendar.

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"Q: Where does Saturnalia originate?

"It was the result of the merging of three winter 
festivals over the centuries. These included the 
day of Saturn the god of seeds and sowing which 
was the Saturnalia itself. The dates for the 
Saturnalia shifted a bit over time, but it was originally held on 17 December.

"Later, the 17th was given over to the Opalia, a 
feast day dedicated to Saturn’s wife who was also 
his sister. She was the goddess of abundance and the fruits of the earth.

"Because they were associated with heaven 
(Saturn) and Earth (Opalia), their holidays ended 
up combined, according again to Macrobius. And 
the third was a feast day celebrating the 
shortest day, called the bruma by the Romans. The 
Brumalia coincided with the solstice, on 21 or 22 December.

"The three were merged, and became a seven-day 
jolly running from 17 23 December. But the 
emperor Augustus [who ruled from 27 BC AD 14] 
shortened it to a three-day holiday, as it was 
causing chaos in terms of the working day.

"Later, Caligula [ruled AD 37 41 ] extended it to 
a five-day holiday, and by the time of Macrobius 
[early fifth century] it had extended to almost two weeks.

'As with so many Roman traditions, the origins of 
the Saturnalia are lost to the mists of time. The 
writer Columella notes in his book about 
agriculture [De Re Rustica, published in the 
early first century AD] that the Saturnalia came 
at the end of the agrarian year.

"The festivities fell on the winter solstice, and 
helped to make up for the monotony of the lull 
between the end of the harvest and the beginning of the spring.

"Q: Were gift-giving and decorations part of Saturnalia?

"A: Saturnalia was more about a change in 
attitudes than presents. But a couple of gifts 
that were given were white candles, named cerei, 
and clay faces named sigillariae. The candles 
signified the increase of light after the 
solstice, while the sigillariae were little ornaments people exchanged.

"These were sometimes hung in greenery as a form 
of decoration, and people would bring in holly and berries to honour Saturn.

"Q: Was Saturnalia welcomed by everyone?

"A: Not among the Romans!

"Seneca [who died in AD 62] complained that the 
mob went out of control “in pleasantries”, and 
Pliny the Younger wrote in one of his letters 
that he holed up in his study while the rest of the household celebrated.

"As might be expected, the early Christian 
authorities objected to the festivities as well.

"It wasn’t until the late fourth century that the 
church fathers could agree on the date of 
Christ’s birth – unlike the pagan Romans, 
Christians tended to give no importance to 
anyone’s birthday. The big day in the Christian religious calendar was Easter.

"Nevertheless, eventually the church settled on 
25 December as the date of Christ’s nativity. For 
the Christians, it was a holy day, not a holiday, 
and they wanted the period to be sombre and 
distinguished from the pagan Saturnalia 
traditions such as gambling, drinking, and of 
course, most of all, worshipping a pagan god!

"But their attempts to ban Saturnalia were not 
successful, as it was so popular. As late as the 
eighth century, church authorities complained 
that even people in Rome were still celebrating 
the old pagan customs associated with the 
Saturnalia and other winter holidays."

1660 England - The Merry Boys of Christmas

Posted: 25 Dec 2013 02:42 AM PST

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Merry Boys of Christmas OR, The Milk-Maids New-Years-Gift.

When Lads and Lasses take delight,
        together for to be;
They pass away the Winter Night,
     and live most Merrily.
To the Tune of, Hey Boys up go we.


Come, come my roaring ranting Boys,
       lets never be cast down,
  Wel never mind the Female Toys,
       but Loyal be to the Crown:
  Wel never break our hearts with Care,
       nor be cast down with fear,
  Our bellys then let us prepare,
       to drink some Christmas Beer.


Then heres a Health to Charles our King,
       throughout the world admird,
  [L]et us his great applauses sing,
       that we so much desird,
And wisht amongst us for to Reign,
       when Oliver ruld here,
  But since hes home returnd again,
       come fill some Christmas Beer.


These Holidays wel briskly drink,
       all mirth we will devise,
  No Treason we will speak or think,
       then bring us brave mincd Pies:
  Roast Beef and brave Plum-Porridge
       our Loyal hearts to chear,
  Then prithee make no more ado,
       but bring us Christmas Beer.

1653 English Vindication of Christmas banished by the Puritans

Posted: 25 Dec 2013 02:30 AM PST

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