December 23, 2009 • 10 mins
Winter solstice celebrations predate Christmas, and trace back into antiquity. Saturnalia was one of these ancient traditions, and it was very different from the celebration we recognize as Christmas today. Tune in and learn more in this episode.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how
Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast.
I'm Katie Lambert and I'm Sarah Downy, and Sarah and
I are both getting really excited about Christmas and talking
about our favorite traditions. Every year, I take my grandmother
(00:23):
to midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, and that's like, I think,
it really feels like Christmas for me. It's picking out
a Christmas tree and decorating it and getting out all
the old family ornaments that each have their own story,
and that's probably my favorite part of Christmas. But if
you're looking for a different way to celebrate this year,
we'd like to introduce you to Saturnalia. It's a pretty
(00:45):
awesome Roman festival. As far as Christmas goes, it's pretty
easy to imagine it as this one long tradition that
just goes, you know, all the way back to the
birth of Christ. But that's not really how it happened. Yeah,
you'd think you have the Nativity and then the December
date and the gift giving from the three Kings or
wise men, but yeah, that's that's not quite how it works.
(01:08):
The history of Christmas actually predates the birth of Christ.
It sounds like there's a little bit of a mystery there, Sarah. Well,
so we have winter Solstice celebrations going on from a
very long time ago. Early Europeans um celebrated the literal
rebirth of the sun as the days started to get longer,
(01:28):
and they would do things that sound kind of Christmas e,
like feast on livestock that couldn't be cut through the winter.
And the German Pagans, of course had odin that scary
god who flew through the night, cursing some into blessing others,
so like a really horrible version of sad Santa Claus.
And then the North celebrate yule Tide, which, uh at
(01:50):
its simplest, is burning a giant ule log for about
a month or so until it turns to ash. But
that's not as good Saturnalia. We're going to learn about why.
And the early fourth century Christians thought so too. They
needed a good December holiday of their own, so they
chose a date that was nearer the festival of Saturnalia
(02:12):
December twenty, which was also the birthdate of the god Mithra.
And at the time, the religion of Mythrizon was a
big competitor for Christianity, which is funny because the cult
of Mithriss is celebrating the birth of their infant God
of light on So again, it's a good way to
absorb a pagan holiday and make it into something more Christian.
(02:32):
But yeah, so the early Christians start celebrating the Feast
of the Nativity on December, and that's right around Saturnalia,
and therefore it picks up a lot of the raucous
traits of the Roman festival, so much so that a
lot of Christians think it's blasphemous to be so crazy
(02:53):
in while celebrating Christ's birthday. Oh right. In the Middle Ages,
Christians would go to church and then they would party
like it was Marty Gras after that for days and
days and days, and pick a lord of misrule, a
beggar or a student, and poor people would show up
at rich houses and demand good food and it was
just a complete mess. Yeah, so we have Oliver Cromwell
(03:16):
canceling Christmas. When Sears control of of England. The soldiers
even patrolled the street looking for people cooking meat to
celebrate in The Puritans in New England ban it too.
It's not celebrated in Boston from sixteen fifty nine to
sixteen eighty one. So that's a pretty boring stretch of
(03:37):
winters there in Boston. It finally gets a little tamer,
more like what we know today by the late eighteenth century,
and that's where we pick up all those Victorian traditions,
which are sort of the staple of most of our
Christmas celebrations today. Right, But let's pretend for just a
second that Saturnalia went out over Christmas and what would
(03:58):
it be like. So the basic of Saturnalia, it's on
the winter solstice, like we said, and it's to honor
the god of the harvest, Saturn. Saturnalia was usually held December,
although originally was just one day, right, Yeah, and then
it was extended to a week, and then I think
Augustus tried to cut it down to three days because
he didn't like the courts being closed. People people didn't
(04:19):
go for that, the right Caligula brought it back to
five but everyone pretty much did what they wanted for
a week anyways. So what was Saturnalia all about? Though?
I mean, who is Saturn and why did he need
to be celebrated with this feast? Of merriment. Well, he
of course ruled during the golden age of man, when
everything was wonderful and the lions lay down with the lambs. Yeah,
(04:42):
and Greek mythology's Chronus, and you might know him from
the rather disturbing Goya painting where you have this ravenous
god eating his children, because Saturn did just that. He
believed that one of his children would eventually overthrow him,
so to come sate for that, he ate most of
them except his wife sneaks away one Jupiter or Zeus,
(05:06):
who eventually does overthrow him. But we let that slide
during Saturnalia, the creepy child eating, and focus on that
golden age of man. Right, And this was a holy day,
but it was also this week of feasting and merrymaking,
and it was everybody's favorite holiday. Could tell us said
it was the best of days. And Sarah and I
(05:27):
have decided through our research that there is no party
like a Saturnalia party. And to prove it, we have
a quote from Lucien. So Lucien said of Saturnalia during
my week, the serious is barred, no business allowed, drinking,
noise and games and dice appointed of kings and feasting
of slaves, singing, naked clapping of frenzied hands, and occasional
(05:49):
ducking of corked faces and icy water. Such are the
functions over which I preside. I would like to preside
over the clapping of frenzied hands. Yeah, that sounds pretty good.
I don't know about the ducking of quirked faces, and
I see, I want no part of that. But the
nice thing about Saturnalia for us would be that businesses
were closed, schools were closed, courts were closed, and you
(06:10):
absolutely were not allowed to start any battles or any wars.
You were just going to have to put it off
for a week. Seneca kind of complaining said, the whole
mob has let itself go in pleasures, And that's basically
what Saturnalia was. Was also to celebrate the golden age
of man, when men were equal. There was also up
ending of social position. Right, everything was topsy turvy. Slaves
(06:33):
didn't have to work, they could wear their master's clothing.
People were like dice. Right, you were allowed to gamble
in public, which normally was considered to know. Now, children
could command adults, and interestingly, juvenilia, which was a feast
in honor of Rooms Children was near held around the
same time, and you were allowed to wear your synthesis
to dinner instead of your toga, which we think sounds
(06:55):
very nice. It was much less formal and a bit
flimsier in material and colorful. Right in December, I don't
know about them. You could also pull out your pilias,
which was a felt cap that normally freed slaves war,
but to celebrate and recognize the freedom of Saturnalia, everybody
could wear their special felt cap. Oh and I love
(07:17):
this part two. You could pick a lord of misrule.
So once you had your Lord of misrule, he could
command people to do pretty much anything he wanted them to,
and you all had to obey. But of course, like Christmas,
there was a sometimes burden of presence that you had
to get for everybody. Usually they were wax candles which
signified the return of light after the solstice, or sometimes
(07:41):
these little earthenware figures or faces. But you you had
to spend a lot for certain people. Right one out
of Choe Red was saying it would be about a
tenth of your income, so start saving, Sarah. If you
weren't giving candles or like earthenware figurines to your friends.
You could give them ours of plums or um what
(08:02):
else silverware perhaps or um silician socks from the Beard
of the Fetid Goat, which is from on my list.
It's from a really hilarious Economist article on Saturnalia. If
you can find it, and even if you're not singing,
Oh Holy Night at Saturnalia, you could have a chant
like perhaps Yo Saturnalia, Yo Saturnalia, which I think is
(08:25):
our new holiday greeting. People are gonna hear us yelling
that around the understand that our office Christmas party just
to wait. Speaking of office parties, I left this account
from Olus Gellius. I think that is how his name
is pronounced in his Roman friends who would gather in
the Athens baths and quiz each other on the ancient poets.
And if you didn't get it right, the crown of
(08:47):
Laurel was dedicated to Saturn. It reminded me of our
holiday office party last year. We had a quiz gameh right, Candice, Actually,
our former stuff you missed in History class co host
was really fantastic get Dead or Alive and enthusiastic about it.
Very enthusiastic and a lot of our favorite information about
Saturnalia comes from a Crobius work, The Saturnalia, which is
(09:11):
supposed to be an account of discussions in private houses
the day before and on the days of the festival. Yeah.
All right, well, I think that's about it, Katie and
I need to start getting ready for our Saturnalia celebration.
I have to good find my synthesis. Yeah, you want
to look good for Saturnalia. So to all of our listeners,
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanuka, the Kwanza, happy Holidays, and happy Saturday. Yeah.
(09:36):
And if you want to learn more about Christmas or
the history of Christmas, you should check out How Christmas
Works written by me Um on our homepage at www
dot how stuff works dot com. For more on this
and thousands of other topics. Is it how stuff works
dot com and be sure to check out the stuff
you missed in History Class blog on the How Stuff
(09:57):
Works dot com to homepage, Blue Blue
Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how
Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast.
I'm Katie Lambert and I'm Sarah Downy, and Sarah and
I are both getting really excited about Christmas and talking
about our favorite traditions. Every year, I take my grandmother
(00:23):
to midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, and that's like, I think,
it really feels like Christmas for me. It's picking out
a Christmas tree and decorating it and getting out all
the old family ornaments that each have their own story,
and that's probably my favorite part of Christmas. But if
you're looking for a different way to celebrate this year,
we'd like to introduce you to Saturnalia. It's a pretty
(00:45):
awesome Roman festival. As far as Christmas goes, it's pretty
easy to imagine it as this one long tradition that
just goes, you know, all the way back to the
birth of Christ. But that's not really how it happened. Yeah,
you'd think you have the Nativity and then the December
date and the gift giving from the three Kings or
wise men, but yeah, that's that's not quite how it works.
(01:08):
The history of Christmas actually predates the birth of Christ.
It sounds like there's a little bit of a mystery there, Sarah. Well,
so we have winter Solstice celebrations going on from a
very long time ago. Early Europeans um celebrated the literal
rebirth of the sun as the days started to get longer,
(01:28):
and they would do things that sound kind of Christmas e,
like feast on livestock that couldn't be cut through the winter.
And the German Pagans, of course had odin that scary
god who flew through the night, cursing some into blessing others,
so like a really horrible version of sad Santa Claus.
And then the North celebrate yule Tide, which, uh at
(01:50):
its simplest, is burning a giant ule log for about
a month or so until it turns to ash. But
that's not as good Saturnalia. We're going to learn about why.
And the early fourth century Christians thought so too. They
needed a good December holiday of their own, so they
chose a date that was nearer the festival of Saturnalia
(02:12):
December twenty, which was also the birthdate of the god Mithra.
And at the time, the religion of Mythrizon was a
big competitor for Christianity, which is funny because the cult
of Mithriss is celebrating the birth of their infant God
of light on So again, it's a good way to
absorb a pagan holiday and make it into something more Christian.
(02:32):
But yeah, so the early Christians start celebrating the Feast
of the Nativity on December, and that's right around Saturnalia,
and therefore it picks up a lot of the raucous
traits of the Roman festival, so much so that a
lot of Christians think it's blasphemous to be so crazy
(02:53):
in while celebrating Christ's birthday. Oh right. In the Middle Ages,
Christians would go to church and then they would party
like it was Marty Gras after that for days and
days and days, and pick a lord of misrule, a
beggar or a student, and poor people would show up
at rich houses and demand good food and it was
just a complete mess. Yeah, so we have Oliver Cromwell
(03:16):
canceling Christmas. When Sears control of of England. The soldiers
even patrolled the street looking for people cooking meat to
celebrate in The Puritans in New England ban it too.
It's not celebrated in Boston from sixteen fifty nine to
sixteen eighty one. So that's a pretty boring stretch of
(03:37):
winters there in Boston. It finally gets a little tamer,
more like what we know today by the late eighteenth century,
and that's where we pick up all those Victorian traditions,
which are sort of the staple of most of our
Christmas celebrations today. Right, But let's pretend for just a
second that Saturnalia went out over Christmas and what would
(03:58):
it be like. So the basic of Saturnalia, it's on
the winter solstice, like we said, and it's to honor
the god of the harvest, Saturn. Saturnalia was usually held December,
although originally was just one day, right, Yeah, and then
it was extended to a week, and then I think
Augustus tried to cut it down to three days because
he didn't like the courts being closed. People people didn't
(04:19):
go for that, the right Caligula brought it back to
five but everyone pretty much did what they wanted for
a week anyways. So what was Saturnalia all about? Though?
I mean, who is Saturn and why did he need
to be celebrated with this feast? Of merriment. Well, he
of course ruled during the golden age of man, when
everything was wonderful and the lions lay down with the lambs. Yeah,
(04:42):
and Greek mythology's Chronus, and you might know him from
the rather disturbing Goya painting where you have this ravenous
god eating his children, because Saturn did just that. He
believed that one of his children would eventually overthrow him,
so to come sate for that, he ate most of
them except his wife sneaks away one Jupiter or Zeus,
(05:06):
who eventually does overthrow him. But we let that slide
during Saturnalia, the creepy child eating, and focus on that
golden age of man. Right, And this was a holy day,
but it was also this week of feasting and merrymaking,
and it was everybody's favorite holiday. Could tell us said
it was the best of days. And Sarah and I
(05:27):
have decided through our research that there is no party
like a Saturnalia party. And to prove it, we have
a quote from Lucien. So Lucien said of Saturnalia during
my week, the serious is barred, no business allowed, drinking,
noise and games and dice appointed of kings and feasting
of slaves, singing, naked clapping of frenzied hands, and occasional
(05:49):
ducking of corked faces and icy water. Such are the
functions over which I preside. I would like to preside
over the clapping of frenzied hands. Yeah, that sounds pretty good.
I don't know about the ducking of quirked faces, and
I see, I want no part of that. But the
nice thing about Saturnalia for us would be that businesses
were closed, schools were closed, courts were closed, and you
(06:10):
absolutely were not allowed to start any battles or any wars.
You were just going to have to put it off
for a week. Seneca kind of complaining said, the whole
mob has let itself go in pleasures, And that's basically
what Saturnalia was. Was also to celebrate the golden age
of man, when men were equal. There was also up
ending of social position. Right, everything was topsy turvy. Slaves
(06:33):
didn't have to work, they could wear their master's clothing.
People were like dice. Right, you were allowed to gamble
in public, which normally was considered to know. Now, children
could command adults, and interestingly, juvenilia, which was a feast
in honor of Rooms Children was near held around the
same time, and you were allowed to wear your synthesis
to dinner instead of your toga, which we think sounds
(06:55):
very nice. It was much less formal and a bit
flimsier in material and colorful. Right in December, I don't
know about them. You could also pull out your pilias,
which was a felt cap that normally freed slaves war,
but to celebrate and recognize the freedom of Saturnalia, everybody
could wear their special felt cap. Oh and I love
(07:17):
this part two. You could pick a lord of misrule.
So once you had your Lord of misrule, he could
command people to do pretty much anything he wanted them to,
and you all had to obey. But of course, like Christmas,
there was a sometimes burden of presence that you had
to get for everybody. Usually they were wax candles which
signified the return of light after the solstice, or sometimes
(07:41):
these little earthenware figures or faces. But you you had
to spend a lot for certain people. Right one out
of Choe Red was saying it would be about a
tenth of your income, so start saving, Sarah. If you
weren't giving candles or like earthenware figurines to your friends.
You could give them ours of plums or um what
(08:02):
else silverware perhaps or um silician socks from the Beard
of the Fetid Goat, which is from on my list.
It's from a really hilarious Economist article on Saturnalia. If
you can find it, and even if you're not singing,
Oh Holy Night at Saturnalia, you could have a chant
like perhaps Yo Saturnalia, Yo Saturnalia, which I think is
(08:25):
our new holiday greeting. People are gonna hear us yelling
that around the understand that our office Christmas party just
to wait. Speaking of office parties, I left this account
from Olus Gellius. I think that is how his name
is pronounced in his Roman friends who would gather in
the Athens baths and quiz each other on the ancient poets.
And if you didn't get it right, the crown of
(08:47):
Laurel was dedicated to Saturn. It reminded me of our
holiday office party last year. We had a quiz gameh right, Candice, Actually,
our former stuff you missed in History class co host
was really fantastic get Dead or Alive and enthusiastic about it.
Very enthusiastic and a lot of our favorite information about
Saturnalia comes from a Crobius work, The Saturnalia, which is
(09:11):
supposed to be an account of discussions in private houses
the day before and on the days of the festival. Yeah.
All right, well, I think that's about it, Katie and
I need to start getting ready for our Saturnalia celebration.
I have to good find my synthesis. Yeah, you want
to look good for Saturnalia. So to all of our listeners,
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanuka, the Kwanza, happy Holidays, and happy Saturday. Yeah.
(09:36):
And if you want to learn more about Christmas or
the history of Christmas, you should check out How Christmas
Works written by me Um on our homepage at www
dot how stuff works dot com. For more on this
and thousands of other topics. Is it how stuff works
dot com and be sure to check out the stuff
you missed in History Class blog on the How Stuff
(09:57):
Works dot com to homepage, Blue Blue
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