It is soon time for the most important holiday of the year. For many of us it's Christmas. For the Romans it was Saturnalia that was held in honor of Saturn on 17th to 23rd of December. Catullus called this festival the "best of days". These two holidays share many customs, some of which were transferred directly from Saturnalia to the Christian celebration of Christmas. Some traditions, on the other hand, such as the obscene verses associated with Saturnalia were substituted with other forms of entertainment over the centuries.
Saturnalia was a merry and cheerful festival. People had time off from work and school. Many social norms were turned upside down during Saturnalia. Slaves could be free for a period and were served by their masters at dinner. A king of the Saturnalia, Saturnalicius princeps, was chosen by lot for the duration of the festival. He presided over the festivities and people had to obey his orders.
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| Temple of Saturn in the Roman Forum |
The festivities began on the first day of Saturnalia with a sacrifice and a great banquet at the temple of Saturn in the Roman Forum. The banquet was open to all, songs were sung and people shouted io Saturnalia. After the official ceremonies the holiday continued in private for several days. People visited friends and family, gave gifts to one another, ate, drank and played games. Some traditional Saturnalian dishes included pork and mulsum, wine flavored with honey and spices, that resembles modern mulled wine.
The Roman poet Martial describes many of these Saturnalian customs in his poems:
While the knight and my lord senator rejoice in dinner suits and the wearing of the cap of liberty befits our Jupiter, while the slave as he shakes the dice box does not fear to look at the aedile, though he sees the cold pools so close: accept these lots, alternately for the rich man and the poor man; let each one give his guest the appropriate prize. – – (Mart. 14.1.1–6)
In stead of the customary toga one could wear synthesis, a garment that was usually worn only at dinner. In addition, a cap called pilleus, a sign of a free man, was worn by all. The dice refer to gambling that was permitted during Saturnalia but was normally prohibited.
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| Game of dice in a Pompeian fresco |
The Romans had a custom of giving gifts to their guests at parties and during festivals such as Saturnalia. Such gifts included food items, clothes, jewelry and toys for instance. Typically Saturnalian gifts were the small wax or clay figurines called sigillaria. Gifts were often accompanied by short verses. Martial published two collections of such poems (Xenia and Apophoreta) and wrote verses for gifts such as a toothpick, a broom, ivory tusks, a sponge, a strainer for snow, and slaves including a wrestler, a boy, a stenographer, a confectioner and an idiot. Some gifts were more expensive than others.
The verses were often satirical and described the gift:
Toothpick: Mastic is better; but if a leafy point is not available, a quill can relieve your teeth. (Mart. 14.22)
Strainer for snow: Take my advice, dilute your Setine cups with my snow. You can stain linen with an inferior wine. (Mart. 14.103)
Stenographer: Though the words speed, the hand is faster than they. The right hand has finished its work, while the tongue has more to do. (Mart. 14.208)
Idiot: His stupidity does not lie, is not feigned by wily art. He that is witless to excess has his wits. (Mart. 14.210)
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| An ivory doll from the 2nd century AD. |
Jesting and satire were an essential part of Saturnalia. Martial wrote many of his poems specifically for the festival. For example, his 11th book of epigrams was published during the Saturnalia of 96 AD. This is the most satirical of Martial's books. He describes his own verses in this way:
On the sumptuous feast days of the old Scythe-bearer, over which King Dice-box rules, methinks you allow me, cap-clad Rome, to sport in toil-free verse. You smile. Permission granted then, I am not forbidden. Pale cares, get you far hence. Whatever conies my way, let me out with it and no moody meditation. – – (Mart. 11.6.1–8)
The festival of the Scythe-bearer (i.e. Saturn) was a good excuse for writing obscene verses. Martial, however, felt the need to defend himself, and noted that his epigrams don't represent his morals but the customs of Saturnalia.
I have writings that Cato’s wife and severe Sabine dames might read. But I want all of this little book to laugh and be naughtier than all little books. Let it be soaked in wine nor blush for the stains of rich Cosmian pomade, let it play with the boys, love the girls, and name outright that from which we are born, the universal parent, which holy Numa used to call “cock.” But remember, Apollinaris, that these are Saturnalian verses. This little book does not have my morals. (Mart. 11.15)
Martial wrote Saturnalian verses such as these:
The column that hangs from Titius rivals in size the one that the girls of Lampsacus honor [= Priapus]. He bathes in spacious baths, his own baths, with none to accompany or incommode him. And yet Titius hasn’t room to bathe. (Mart. 11.51)
Lesbia swears that she has never been fucked free of charge. It’s true. When she wants to be fucked, she is accustomed to pay cash. (Mart. 11.62)
He lies, Zoilus, who says you are vicious. You are not a vicious man, Zoilus, you’re vice. (Mart. 11.92)
After the Christian holiday of Christmas was placed on December 25th in the fourth century, many of the customs of Saturnalia were taken over by the Christians and gradually incorporated into their celebration of Christmas. Such traditions as drinking, gambling and electing a "king of misrule" remained as part of the festivities of Christmas in Europe for centuries. Here in Scandinavia the influence of Saturnalia was never as great as within the former Roman empire. Nonetheless, many of our Christmas traditions such as gift-giving, eating together and singing songs resemble the customs of the Roman Saturnalia.
Sources:
Hänninen Marja-Leena & Maijastina Kahlos, Roomalaista arkea ja juhlaa, SKS, 2004.
Polkunen Marja-Liisa, Martialis: Venus, viini ja vapaus – epigrammeja, Otava, 2000.
"Saturnus, Saturnalia", The Oxford Classical Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 2012.
Translations of the poems of Martial:
Martial. Epigrams, Volumes I–III, ed. & trans. D. R. Shackleton Bailey, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, 1993.
Photos: temple of Saturn (Joonas Vanhala, 2018), game of dice in a Pompeian fresco (Wikimedia Commons), an ivory doll at Centrale Montemartini, Rome (Joonas Vanhala, 2018)
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