The Remains of the Temple of Saturn in the Roman Forum (left).Īfter the official rituals, the celebrants would go out to the streets and shout the holiday greeting ‘IO Saturnalia’. A public banquet followed ( convivium publicum). The cult statue of Saturnus was usually tied together with wool throughout the year, but during his festival, it was freed from his chains as an act of liberation. Following the sacrifice, a lectisternium was held by placing the deity’s image on a sumptuous couch ( lectus) with tables and offerings before him, as if Saturnus was partaking of the things offered in sacrifice and participating in the festivities. In Rome, the celebrations began with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturnus, located at the western end of the Forum Romanum and thought to be the oldest Roman temple. Saturn, with his head protected by a winter cloak, holding a sickle in his right hand, fresco from the House of the Dioscuri at Pompeii. Depictions of the god in surviving art show him as a bearded man wearing a veil and brandishing a sickle or a scythe (the symbols of his agricultural function). Exiled from Olympus by Zeus, Saturnus ruled Latium in a happy and innocent “golden age”, a time when peace, harmony and prosperity prevailed. The Romans equated him with the Greek agricultural deity Kronos. Saturnus, who gave his name to the festival, was regarded as the chief of the Roman gods. It was undoubtedly the most popular holiday in the Roman calendar. Saturnalia was described by 1st century AD poet Gaius Valerius Catullus as “the best of days”. Wood writing tablet with a letter written in ink making reference to the supply of food for the Saturnalia festival.
According to Macrobius, the celebration of Saturnalia was extended with the Sigallaria on the 10th day before the Kalends (December 23), so named for the small terracotta figurines sold in Roman shops and given as gifts to children. The emperor Augustus shortened it to a three-day holiday during his reign, but Caligula later extended it to five days. However, by the end of the Republic, the festival was so popular that it expanded to cover a week.
With the Julian reform of the calendar, Saturnalia was celebrated sixteen days before the Kalends of January (December 17). Originally the festival was celebrated on a single day, on the fourteenth before the Kalends of January (December 19), but it was later extended to three days. Despite Livy’s claim that the festival was established in 496 BC, there is evidence that it began much earlier. Saturnalia originated as a farmer’s festival to mark the end of the autumn planting season in honour of Saturnus. Playing games was an important feature of the Saturnalia celebrations. (Macrobius, Saturnalia, I.10.3) Illustration from the 4th century AD depicting a man enjoying a game of dice. Long awaited, the seven Saturnalia are now at hand. It was the merriest festival of the year, and all work and business were suspended. The midwinter celebrations lasted for several days (the number changed through the Roman era), and it was a time of feasting, partying, playing games, gift-giving and role-reversal. It released the pressure of the rigid social structures, as slaves were even allowed to joke around with their masters and show insolence, albeit for a short period of time.December 17 marked the beginning of Saturnalia, one of the most popular festivals in Ancient Rome.
Whilst it is a pleasant image to think of the slaves and masters’ power dynamics being reversed for a while, it also reinforces their roles and highlights their power dynamics as it was such a reversal for them to play at another role in society for a short while. This reinforces the idea of social norms and hierarchies being suspended in the festive period, but it is also a time-limited tradition: as soon as Saturnalia is over the slaves return to work and are not allowed the luxuries afforded to them during the Saturnalia period.
#Festival of saturnalia free#
At some tables, the masters even served the slaves food whilst they sat at the head of the table typically reserved for the free citizens. Perhaps more peculiar is the tradition of Roman citizens wearing the pilleus, a felt-cap typically worn by freed-man and slaves who were about to be freed. During Saturnalia, slaves were allowed to dine and celebrate with their masters, rather than having to work. Role reversal was important to the Saturnalia celebrations, and none of the traditions is more curious than the reversal of masters and slaves.
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