For a day and a night the cry of the Saturnalia resounded through the City, and the people were ordered to make that day a festival and observe it as such for ever.” “…a lectisternium was ordered (the senators prepared the couch), and a public banquet. According to the historian Livy, this practice was introduced in 217 BC: There was also a lectisternium, a banquet in which an effigy of Saturn was a guest - as though the god was in attendance. After the religious rites were completed, people would partake in a public banquet. In addition to being a holy day, Saturnalia was also a day of feasting and celebration. Ruins of the Temple of Saturn (eight columns to the far right), with three columns from the Temple of Vespasian and Titus (left) and the Arch of Septimius Severus (center). This was meant to symbolize the liberation of the god. Another ritual performed during Saturnalia was the loosening of the woolen bonds which fettered the feet of the ivory cult statue in the Temple of Saturn. For instance, sacrifices to Saturn would be performed according to Greek ritual, i.e. Saturnalia was designated as a holy day in the Roman calendar, hence religious rites would have been performed. ( Public Domain ) What are Saturnalia Rituals and Customs? One of the ways this was accomplished was through the celebration of Saturnalia.Įngraving of the god Saturn by Polidoro da Caravaggio. After the god vanished suddenly, his memory was kept by the people. Saturn reigned as a righteous and benevolent king, and taught the inhabitants of Italy agriculture, while giving them laws.
The Romans believed that during this Golden Age, Italy was ruled by the god Saturn (the Roman equivalent of the Greek Cronus). Slavery and private property were alike unknown: all men had all things in common.” “the earth brought forth abundantly: no sound of war or discord troubled the happy world: no baleful love of lucre worked like poison in the blood of the industrious and contented peasantry. Saturnalia was celebrated in commemoration of the legendary Golden Age, a time in the past when, as Frazer wrote: As Sir James Frazer puts it in his work, The Golden Bough, it was a time “when the darker passions find a vent which would never be allowed them in the more staid and sober course of ordinary life.” Commemoration of the Roman Golden Age and Saturn This was a period when the Romans indulged in oodles of joyous and merry activities – some may even call it excessive enjoyment. Despite efforts to reduce the length of the celebration - Augustus tried to reduce it to three days and Caligula attempted to cut it to five - the celebration of Saturnalia remained a weeklong event. Originally, this celebration was held annually for a day on the 17th of December, but the festival was so popular that it was extended to a week (December 17-23). Saturnalia was a festival celebrated by the ancient Romans.
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