![]() Employers gave their slaves andĮmployees year-end bonuses, and merchants did the same with valued customers, to help them buy gifts. The merchants wanted to make sure your money went to waste. The most popular gifts were candles and wax copies of fruit or idols - items purposely made to be temporary. Gift-giving was a large part of the festival. If this puts you in mind of a baby with a halo lying in a manger, you're not imagining things. After an opening sacrifice,Īn image of a deity was placed reclining on a luxurious couch, as if he were Suspended, including courts, school and exercise. The dead gladiators were considered sacrifices to Saturn. The holiday featured a loosening of morals and playing games, including gladiatorial games to theĭeath. Pliny the Younger - famed persecutor of Christians - was said to have had a soundproof room added to his house so he could get some peace during Saturnalia. ![]() It was said that it was rare to see a sober person during Saturnalia. Was celebrated with a carnival atmosphere of partying, drunkenness,Īnd gluttony. The goddess of joy and pleasure, the festivities were intended to drive away allĭecember 25 was the culmination: The dies natalis of Sol invictus that is, theīirthday of the sun god Sol the unconquerable.ĭecember 17-23, Saturnalia, a week-long festival to the god Saturn, It looks a lot like Santa's sleigh.ĭecember 21 was a festival called Angeronalia. A coin with Saturn's name on itĭepicts a chariot being pulled across the sky by four horses. Chariots and horses were a big theme in December. Horses and mules were decorated withįlowers, and chariot races were held. The festival was presided over by a vestal virgin It was a day off for all laborers and slaves, asĭecember 19 was a festival called Opticonsivia. Consus was a god associated with preserving The altar ofĬonsus was buried all year, but dug up on that day. With fertility, ‘Mother Earth' and harvest.ĭecember 15 was a festival called Consualia. Power" and the productivity of the earth. Was celebrated along with a banquet for Ceres, who embodied "growing How it was observed is unknown today.ĭecember 13, the birthday of the Temple of Tellus The meaning of the word indiges is obscure, but it was a festival of some kind, worshiping the sun. Can you imagine what Prisca, Aquila, Mary and the others had to deal with?ĭecember 11 was a holiday called Sol Indiges. No doubt there were as many other Christians living there that Paul didn't name specifically.Įvery December, the entire city went into a celebratory frenzy. They had relatives who thought they were crazy for adopting Christianity. They were real people, with real lives and problems. Check it out when you have a few minutes, and try to imagine a face for each name. You can read the list in Romans 16: 1-16. He named specifically a married couple, Prisca and Aquila, as well as a couple dozen others. In the year 56 of our calendar, Paul wrote a letter to the brothers and sisters in Rome. Classical Numismatic Group, Inc.Ĭan you imagine yourself, as a Christian, living in Rome in the first century? Saturn driving a four-horse chariot on the reverse of a denarius issued in 104 BC.
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