What do we think of when we think about Christmas? Playing games with the family, having a big dinner, exchanging gifts, religious services? Well, all these things and more can also be found in the Roman winter festival of Saturnalia. Read on to find out more!
“It is the month of December, when the great city sweats. The right of public luxury is given. Everywhere they make the sound of great preparations, as though there is some difference between the days of Saturnalia and regular business days…”
Seneca, Letters to Lucilius, 18.1 -
Sound familiar? Saturnalia aside, this extract from Seneca could easily have been taken from a modern news article in the run up to Christmas. We’re no strangers to the great sweat of finding the right gifts, the luxuries of a Christmas dinner, or the hustle and bustle of a town centre gearing up for the holidays. However, the general festive atmosphere isn’t the end of the similarities between Saturnalia and modern Christmas.
'Tis the season!
Saturnalia was traditionally celebrated around the 17th of December. Some emperors, such as Augustus, kept the festivities to a maximum of 3 days, whereas others encouraged an entire week of celebrations. This puts it close in line with the dates of modern Christmas. In fact, since the Bible doesn’t state the date of Christ’s birth, it has been suggested that the celebration of Christmas on the 25th of December was chosen in the 4th century AD so as to incorporate it with winter pagan festivals such as Saturnalia and that of Sol Invictus.
Religion
At this time of year some of us might attend church. Like Christmas, Saturnalia was a religious festival, and it involved rites at the temple of Saturn in the Roman Forum. As part of the religious ceremony an animal would be sacrificed, and a public feast would be held. The emperor might also give out free bread. Saturn was a god of time and agricultural abundance, which was represented by the sickle he held in his hand. His name may have been derived from the word ‘satus’ meaning ‘sowing’. He was the father of many of the gods, and perhaps the most famous myth about him is the one in which he ate his children after being warned that one of them would overthrow him. His wife, Ops, fooled him into eating a rock instead of his final child, Jupiter, who grew up to overthrow him and release his siblings from his father’s stomach. The Saturnalia may reflect the peaceful era of Saturn’s rule, or an appeasement to the god for a bountiful crop after winter. As part of the festivities, the statue of Saturn in his temple would have its legs released from the wool that normally bound them, signalling the start of the revelries and the relaxing of some social restrictions.
The temple of Saturn in the Roman Forum, Rome.
Games
Many of us will be familiar with the sight of a post-dinner board game on Christmas Day, and Saturnalia came with its own games. Many of these might have involved dice or counters, like the gaming set we have here in the museum. Gambling, usually frowned upon, was allowed for everyone during the festival. This even included slaves. Saturnalia was a festival of role-reversals, in which master could become slave for the day and vice versa. In the imperial period, households would appoint a Saturnalicius princeps (ruler or king of the Saturnalia), and this could be anyone, even the lowliest of the slaves. The Saturnalicius princeps might be chosen by winning a game of dice, and would rule over the household throughout the festival. They could even give orders to the master of the house!
A Roman floor tile from Silchester inscribed for use as a gaming board. Museum object number REDMG : 1995.1.186
Santa?
Feasting, church, and games all sounds quite a lot like Christmas. But what about Santa? Well, something very similar to a part of Santa’s costume also appears in the Saturnalia. The pileus was a hat given to a slave that had been freed by his master, but continued to work for him as a freedman (libertus). The hat was conical in shape, and usually made of felt. During the topsy turvy Saturnalia festivities, masters would sometimes don the pileus as part of the tradition of swapping the roles of master and slave. Images of Romans wearing the pileus show that its shape is remarkably like the Santa hat that we see everywhere at this time of year!
Gifts
One of the most anticipated parts of modern Christmas is gift giving. Even this has its roots in the Saturnalia, when friends and family would gift each other with sigilla. These were figures made of wax or pottery, and usually depicted gods or mythological characters. The figurines were exchanged on the last day of the Saturnalia festival, the so called Sigillaria. These gifts were so popular that there were entire workshops with craftsmen dedicated to making them. According to the writer Macrobius in his Saturnalia (written in the early 5th Century AD), the gifts could have originally been intended as substitute sacrificial victims from early rituals, or simply intended to amuse small children. The latter certainly sounds a little more in keeping with the modern spirit of Christmas!
So, on that note, a very Merry Christmas and (io Saturnalia) from all at Reading Museum! Don’t forget that the museum is open as usual until 5pm on 23rd December 2023, so do pop into the shop and pick up some last minute Christmas shopping.
