The Saturnalia was originally celebrated in Ancient Rome for only a day, but it was so popular it soon it lasted a week, despite Augustus' efforts to reduce it to three days, and Caligula's, to five. Like our Christmas, this important holy day (feriae publicae) was for more than fun and games. Saturnalia was a time to honor the god of sowing, Saturn. But again, like Christmas, it was also a festival day (dies festus) on which a public banquet was prepared. An effigy of the god was probably one of the guests.
The poet Catullus describes Saturnalia as the best of days. It was a time of celebration, visits to friends, and gift-giving, particularly of wax candles (cerei), and earthenware figurines (sigillaria). The best part of the Saturnalia (for slaves) was the temporary reversal of roles. Masters served meals to their slaves who were permitted the unaccustomed luxuries of leisure and gambling. Clothing was relaxed and included the peaked woollen cap that symbolized the freed slave. A member of the familia (family plus slaves) was appointed Saturnalicius princeps, roughly, Lord of Misrule.
The ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia ran from December 17th-23rd. Saturnalia was particularly interesting culturally. During the last day of this festival, it was traditional for masters to change places with their household slaves. How this custom was observed varied widely, depending completely on the house. Since our Rome seems to be suffering from an unfortunate but severe slave shortage, we decided that it is impious to the Gods of Rome to utterly forsake this ancient and sacred tradition. To uphold our ancient contracts with Rome's immortal Gods, we reverse rank orders at this battle that we will fight during the annual Festival in honor of Saturn. This in no way implies that any free citizen of Rome is a slave!
Every Saturnalia, a muster of our active citizens listed in reverse rank order is issued to the troops. The lowest ranking members of each respective Legion act as Legion Commanders for the day, promoted temporarily to Acting Tribune unless Senatorial status entitles them to more.
Inactive Romans of even the lowest rank aren't allowed command positions as a reward for their inactivity. We tell them in the nicest way, "If you aren't on the list, you were inactive when it was assembled. So tough luck: fall in and shut up!" Auxiliaries are still auxiliaries because they are not Roman citizens!
Where there are questions as to who has the highest seniority in a given rank, we refer to citizens' enlistment dates or dates last promoted. The last Roman promoted into a given rank will have authority over the rest within that rank. For example: as of this writing, Marcus Deloricus Furius is Rome's newest Centurion. During Saturnalia our Centurions become Decurions, and currently Marcus would have seniority over the lot of them for the duration of our religious observance
Then on to the solstice:
Winter Solstice has been celebrated in cultures the world over for thousands of years. This start of the solar year is a celebration of Light and the rebirth of the Sun. In old Europe, it was known as Yule, from the Norse, Jul, meaning wheel.
Today, many people in Western-based cultures refer to this holiday as "Christmas." Yet a look into its origins of Christmas reveals its Pagan roots. Emperor Aurelian established December 25 as the birthday of the "Invincible Sun" in the third century as part of the Roman Winter Solstice celebrations. Shortly thereafter, in 273, the Christian church selected this day to represent the birthday of Jesus, and by 336, this Roman solar feast day was Christianized. January 6, celebrated as Epiphany in Christendom and linked with the visit of the Magi, was originally an Egyptian date for the Winter Solstice.
Most of the customs, lore, symbols, and rituals associated with "Christmas" actually are linked to Winter Solstice celebrations of ancient Pagan cultures. While Christian mythology is interwoven with contemporary observances of this holiday time, its Pagan nature is still strong and apparent.
How did Christmas get there?
Although there appears to be no clear scriptural proof of the exact date of the birth of Jesus, one can infer from John’s Gospel that the day might have been during the Feast of Tabernacles. In John 1:14, a key Greek word is often translated into English as "dwelt." And that Greek word also means "tabernacled." If John was saying that Christ was born on the Feast of Tabernacles, then Christ was born in the fall of the year, during the Jewish month of Tishri (late September and early October).
The Feast of Tabernacles started on the 15th day of the month and lasted for seven days. If Christ was born in the fall of the year, around Oct. 1, then using the normal 280 day period of pregnancy would mean that Mary conceived Jesus on or near Dec. 25.
This curious fact may account for the early church's acceptance of the date of Dec. 25, in addition to transforming an existing Roman holiday into a Christmas celebration of Christ's incarnation. Dec. 25 was originally a pagan festival to a sun god known as Saturnalia. But, and around AD 320, the church adopted this date to officially celebrate the nativity, under the direction of the first Christian Roman emperor, Constantine.
So let's to do something really old to usher in the solstice and all that comes with it. Let us rekindle the ancient spirit of sacrifice to bring the disapearing sun back so that we may have light and so that we may grow crops and rekindle our flagging spirits. Let us use lights and trees and song and dancing (The Lord of the Dance!) to revitalize ourselves for the eventual spring and the rebirth of nature once again. But let us do more. Let us dedicate ourselves to being in harmony with nature. Let us use this time to reflect on who we are and where we are and vow to never again play fast and loose with this place that nurtures us. If we do that, maybe the next solstice will bring us a joy we have been longing for.
Io Saturnalia!