Greetings all,
Today, December 17th is the beginning of the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia which runs until December 23:
This was a time of celebration, feasting and the giving of candle
gifts to celebrate the returning of longer light after the Winter
Solstice.
It seems uncertain how late Saturnalia continued to be publicly
celebrated in Byzantium, but it was certainly present in the time of
Constantine and his successors through Justinian I. No doubt it was
increasingly subsumed by festival days for Saints, and of course
Christmas! Even so this festival from before the Republic would have
been remembered throughout Byzantine history.
-Marcus Cassius Julianus
No comments:
Post a Comment