![]() ![]() The fireplace with its sprites of light dancing up the chimney has always been a magical setting and was first made the access for Santa Claus by Washington Irving in his 1812 book A History of New York. Henry VIII was king and morals in court were less saintly than Saturnalia. Nude singing was frowned upon – except by Druids – but carols by candlelight recalled the tradition.įather Christmas first appeared in the 16th century as a bearded chap in red or green who enjoyed a drink and reflected the times. In 1808, the great poet William Blake had posed in the hymn Jerusalem the question: And did those feet in ancient timeīelieving God to be an Englishman, Victorians assumed those feet did indeed walk the pleasant pastures and mountain tracks of Constable countryside. For fans of the orgy, it was never the same again. It continued until the 4th century AD, when the Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity. Saturnalia replicated the paradise of Roman legend when the world was innocent and so bounteous no one needed to work (except slaves). The tablets recorded those things they would be able to exchange in the market: sandals, tunics, dolls, candles, caged birds and other trifles they had probably received the year before and donated to charity shops. To mark what was called the Birth of the Unconquerable Sun, candlelit parades heralded the growing light of longer days and culminated with the Lord of Misrule’s journey on the back of a donkey to the Forum on 25 December.ĭuring the feast that followed the sacrifice, masters served their slaves at banquets and gave them inscribed tablets like gift vouchers. Saturnalia celebrations began during the week leading up to the winter solstice on 22 December, the shortest day of the year. Appointing of kings and feasting of slaves, singing naked, and the occasional ducking of faces in icy water, such are the functions over which I preside.’ The poet Lucian of Samosata, playing one year the role of Saturn, outlines his concept of Saturnalia: ‘All things serious are barred. No business was conducted, courts were closed and those caught in acts of vandalism were given amnesty. They played dice to decide who would be the household lord and who the servant. Normally virgins were the first choice for human sacrifice by our pagan forebears, but Saturnalia was a special time that required the blood of a man.ĭuring the seven days of festivities, masters and slaves exchanged clothes and roles. He would then be led to the Roman Forum to be dismembered as an offering to the forces of darkness. For a week, he would be dressed in the costume of an emperor, wined, dined and provided ‘every indulgence.’ ‘They were the best of days,’ he wrote in his memoirs, the old man as old men do remembering the boy he once was.Īccording to the Greek historian Lucian, each community would choose some simple fellow they named The Lord of Misrule. The poet Gaius Valerius Catallus was a big fan of the Saturnalia. When they got home, they stripped naked and enjoyed an unshackled orgy. Romans during Saturnalia hung their morals in the cupboard for a week and moved in sodden gangs of friends from door to door singing bawdy songs. Saturnalia for the Romans was a time for stuffing themselves until they were sick and drinking until they fell over. ![]() ![]() Scene from The Last Judgment by Michelangelo
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