![]() Traditionsĭuring the celebration, there were feasts, music, dances, games and alcoholic beverages. Nobody needed to work, not even peasants or slaves. In fact, one of the most striking elements of this festival was the fact that slaves suddenly had all the freedoms of a common citizen, being able to enjoy themselves, wear less servile clothes and even be insolent with their masters. It still influences the Christmas and New Year celebrations of the Western world, with the banquets, decorations and revelry of those holidays. The holiday was first observed on December 17 and was later extended to a seven-day festival of joy. Saturnus was the god of sowing or seed, and the festival celebrated agriculture. The Festival of Saturn, or Saturnalia, was the most popular in ancient Rome. ![]() Many artists were inspired by this festivity to create their works of art, in which the decadence of the festivity and criticism of the attitude of the people are its main characteristic. ![]() Saturnalia was also characterized by the disobedience of social norms. Catullus, the Roman poet, described it as “the best of days”, as it was characterized by an abundance of food, drink and all the excesses of that time. It was a kind of Christmas and carnival at the same time. In the Greek version of the deities, these figures are called Cronos and Zeus, respectively. This particular celebration was held in honour of Saturn, who is the father of Jupiter. It was not uncommon for Roman festivals to be dedicated to one of the gods of their pantheon, and the Saturnalia was no different. Saturnalia originated as a festival in which farmers hailed the end of the fall harvest season. The first ones were celebrated from December 17 to 23, days in which the Romans decorated their houses with plants and candles for seven days. They used to be parties of excesses in which the established social order was inverted: these excesses were not punished, the courts of justice were closed and exchanges of small gifts were carried out, which are reminiscent of current Christmas presents. In this way, the Romans celebrated the festival known as Saturnalia, a festival in which they honoured the god Saturn and which represented the winter solstice. Even after the birth of the baby Jesus, the celebration continued to be commemorated around the figure implanted by the Romans of Saturn. Saturnalia was a festival celebrated by the ancient Romans in honour of the god Saturn. Despite the fact that reference is usually made to the religious and Christian origin of Christmas, it is also necessary to speak of the pagan origin of the festivity.
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