Roman Christmas? The ancient festival of Saturnalia

Was the Ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia the original Christmas? How many of our Christmas traditions were adopted from this very old celebration? Come join me to explore the pagan Roman festival of Saturnalia and its influence on centuries of celebrations of Christmas.

Creepy Classics music composed and performed by Ed Harrisson ©

00:00 Intro
00:27 The festival
01:55 Saturn
02:47 Roman opinions on Saturnalia
05:11 No business on Saturnalia!
05:53 The World Turned Upside Down
08:11 King of the Saturnalia
10:00 Longevity
11:25 The coming of Christmas

Books and sources:

The Oxford Dictionary of Classical Myth and Religion

Image credits:

Saturnalia: Themadchopper, Antoine-François Callet, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Roman Saturnalia: John Reinhard Weguelin, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Cronos and Rhea: attribuito al it:Pittore di Nausicaa, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Pliny the Younger: Bibliothèque interuniversitaire de Santé, Licence Ouverte, via Wikimedia Commons

Statius, Liber Chronicarum: Rijksmuseum, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Lucian of Samosata by by William Faithorne (1616-1691): public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Macrobius and Eustachius: public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Bean King 1635-1655: Jacob Jordaens, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Bean King, 1638: Jacob Jordaens, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The assassination of Julius Caesar: William Holmes Sullivan, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The shepherds visiting Jesus, from The Golden Staircase, 1907: Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons

The Adoration of the Magi: Gerard David, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Other photos author’s own

[gemmab]

Seneca's grouchy comments almost sound like they could be the precursor to the complaints nowadays that Christmas starts way too early in November! 😆

Io Saturnalia!!

[lanmarknetworking]

Dec 24th is a date fixed by biblical naratives and an assumed 9 months of gestation.