The Christian holiday of Christmas, especially, owes many of its traditions to the ancient Roman festival, including the time of year Christmas is celebrated. to the fourth century A.D.-and their suppression of older seasonal rites practiced by the Celts and other groups-today’s Western cultures derive many of their traditional celebrations of midwinter from Saturnalia. Thanks to the Roman Empire’s conquests in Britain and the rest of Europe from the second century B.C. The common holiday custom of hiding coins or other small objects in cakes is one of many dating back to Saturnalia, as this was a method of choosing the mock king. The idea was that he ruled over chaos, rather than the normal Roman order. From the strictly religious point of view it was celebrated only on 17 December, but in practice, it extended to as many as seven days by Cicero’s time.
In many Roman households, a mock king was chosen: the Saturnalicius princeps, or “leader of Saturnalia,” sometimes also called the “Lord of Misrule.” Usually a lowlier member of the household, this figure was responsible for making mischief during the celebrations-insulting guests, wearing crazy clothing, chasing women and girls, etc. Saturnalia, one of the best known of Roman festivals, the most popular: ‘the best of days’ said Catullus. The cult statue of Saturn in the temple traditionally had woolen bonds tied around his feet, but during Saturnalia these bonds were loosened to symbolize the god’s liberation.
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