Saturnalia, the great celebration of Winter Solstice

Today, Debember 24th, Christmas Eve is celebrated in various parts of the world. Many take advantage of this date to spend time with their relatives, whom they visit in other parts of the city, the country and even the world; others take advantage of organizing large dinners and gift exchanges, promoting a cordial and peaceful environment among the attendees. They even go to religious services, as it is the eve of the birth of Christ.

In TV, radio, and even in the streaming platforms there is programming focused on the positive themes that Christmas brings with it (peace, love, happiness, harmony); from time to time we can read or listen to different reports on the internet about how this celebration has originated, a topic that a few years ago I had the opportunity to address three years ago in El Pulso del Escritor, a space provided by @team-mexico, and which I would like to resume here focusing solely on one of the most popular festivals of Roman society, the Saturnalia.

What was the Saturnalia?

According to Nadia Julien (2008) and Michael Meslin (2003), the Saturnalia took place from December 16th to December 23rd; these festivities were organized in honor of Saturn, the Roman equivalent of the Greek Cronus. They marked the end of the harvest season, of which the first grains were offered in sacrifice to the god in the Roman Forum on the first day of the celebrations. During this period were organized large public banquets, orgies, purifications, and gladiator games, as well as gift exchanges and visits to family and friends.

An interesting detail of this celebration is the reversal of social roles. It was the only period where slaves could enjoy a few days off and enjoy all the rights of a common Roman citizen. They even came to share the table with their masters at banquets.

Although the festivities ended on December 23rd, in religious terms the celebrations concluded on December 25th with the Natalis Solis Invicti, or Sol Invictus, festivities in honor of the birth of Apollo that marked the day of the Winter Solstice (Flores, 2022).

The Saturnalia, celebrating the Golden Age

Christine Harrauer and Herbert Hunger (2017) point out that the Romans considered Saturn as the main god of agriculture, and the one responsible for a supposed Golden Age thanks to his efforts to teach humanity to cultivate the soil and to elaborate fair laws that would benefit the entire population that was under his government, thus completing the civilizing work of the god Janus.

In this sense, the Saturnalia was the commemoration of a golden age where abundance and equality among people prevailed. The reversal of social roles and coexistence between rich and poor, masters and slaves, nobility and people, was a way of emulating the teachings of Saturn, which Christianity takes up again through the celebration of the birth of Christ.

Consulted bibliography

• Flores, Javier. 15 de diciembre de 2022. "El origen histórico de la Navidad", en: National Geographic Historia. Consultado el 24 de diciembre de 2022.
• Harrauer, Christine, y Hunger, Herbert. 2008. Diccionario de mitología griega y romana. España. Editorial Herder.
• Julien, Nadia. 2008. Enciclopedia de Mitos. España. Editorial Océano.
• Meslin, Michael. 2003. "Saturnales", en: Paul Poupard (editor). Diccionario de las religiones. España. Editorial Herder.