The Roman Saturnalia and the Survival of its Traditions among Christians (original) (raw)
Winter Solstice Celebrations: Roman Saturnalia and Modern Christmas by Rick Doble
2016
The Romans had a very different way of calculating the winter solstice and also a different perception of its meaning. Nevertheless customs from the Roman Saturnalia festival have been passed down and are part of modern Christmas traditions. This paper examines Roman science and understanding of the winter solstice and also how traditions from its Saturnalia festival were incorporated into modern day Christmas.
The Upside-Down World of the Saturnalia: A Carnival or a Pilgrimage?
The Indian Review of World Literature in English, 2021
Pilgrimage has been defined variously for multiple decades by several scholars, critics and researchers alike. The primary problem that arises in course of theorizing pilgrimage is that the distinction between a pilgrim and a tourist tends to blur out owing to the diverse nature of the discourses surrounding what constitutes a proper pilgrimage. This paper explores the construction of civic identity within the context of the Roman Saturnalia, one of the most ancient pagan agricultural festivals. Through an analysis of certain seminal discourses on sacred travel, rites of passage and pilgrimage, it tries to determine to what extent the Roman Saturnalia, which has often been perceived as a carnival of decadence and debauchery, qualifies as a pilgrimage.
2012 - Public and publicity: long-term changes in religious festivals during the Roman republic
2012
Looking at the Roman Republic we are confronted with a wealth of very different complex rituals that each attracted a multitude. If I take 'complex ritual' and 'popularity' as some of the elements for defining a 'festival', the evidence would be too scanty to allow clear-cut borderlines between festivals and other rituals. Usually, neither the complexity of the ritual, nor the number of persons involved, whether participants or spectators, are attested with any sufficient degree of certainty. Thus, I am more interested in the variety of phenomena and the different strategies or implications of the selected place and time, in relation to human agents or the gods addressed. The typological interest is, however, combined with a historical one. As is commonly known, the mixture of Roman festivals altered from the fifth and fourth to the second and first centuries BC, with a 'long' third century BC being the turning point. How is this change related to the religious and political development of the Republic? I contend that the ritual changes are linked to the changing role of the senate and the nobility, which reflects the evolving notion of 'public' in the term res publica. As most of our sources stem from the last century BC of the Republic, the exceptions being Imperial, reconstructing historical change remains a notorious problem. And yet an attempt has to be made, helped by historico-critical approaches in relation to those texts available, non-textual evidence and models informed from OUP CORRECTED PROOF -FINAL, 14/8/2012, SPi
THE 25 SEPTEMBER COMMEMORATION OF MARTYR ROMANUS IN SLAVIC AND OTHER MENOLOGIES
Starobŭlgarska literatura 67-68: 81–106, 2023
The subject of the article is a menology commemoration on 25 September for a St. Romanus who is identified only as a martyr. The commemoration appears in the earliest extant Slavic menologies, and in a number of later South and East Slavic menologies up through the 14 th century. The article traces the commemoration back to its earliest extant Slavic witnesses, looks at earlier Greek witnesses and Latin and Syriac sources, and examines the implications of its careful preservation for our understanding of the compilation and preservation of calendars of saints, not only in the Slavic tradition, but in the Greek, Latin, and Syriac traditions also.
The Second Day of the Festival, Its Genesis and Evolution
2016
This paper examines the calendarical and halachic factors contributing to the historical evolution of the traditional single day observance vs. the two day observance of Jewish Festivals and, in particular, the High Holy Days in the Land of Israel and the Diaspora. The First and Second Temple Period, the Mishnaic and Talmudic Period, and the Geonic and Medieval Period leading up to the contemporary practice are examined. Source material is extracted from the Bible, the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds, Geonic literature and several Medieval commentaries.
AYP Vol. II: Attic Festivals, Pt. 2, The Firm & Secure (Athenian Calendar)
Athenian Year Primer: Vol II, 2024
Chapter from the forthcoming Athenian Year Primer Vol. II. The excerpt presupposes familiarity with the methodologies and arguments presented in AYP. Continuing the proposition made last Chapter (also posted to academia.edu), I begin analyses of ancient Athenian festivals and large public sacrifices. I begin here with those whose dates have become established beyond doubt retaining only limited uncertainties about relatively minor details.
Lambert Academic Publishing, 2019
The revolutionary nature of Augustus’ politics manifested itself in numerous aspects of daily life. One of these, certainly, was the control of time: by introducing in the calendar numerous celebrations related to the Emperor and his family, Augustus reshaped the rhythm of Rome’s daily life. Among these new celebrations, a leading role was occupied by birthdays, military victories and triumphs. Through the analysis of the diachronic evolution of their record in the calendars, we will try to reconstruct their fame or oblivion. To verify that these festivals really assumed the role of public anniversaries, we will explore their reception by the various levels of Roman society, as emerges from different sources. Particular attention will be given to the unusual dates of some inscriptions’ dedications: were these the result of a deliberate or a random choice? Once more, the Roman calendars demonstrate their importance in the study of political history and their role as a mirror of society.
Roman Calendars: Imperial Birthdays, Victories and Triumphs.
LAP-Lambert Academic Publishing, 2019
The revolutionary nature of Augustus’ power manifested itself in numerous aspects of daily life. One of these was the control of time: by introducing numerous celebrations related to the Emperor and to his family to the calendars, Augustus reshaped the temporal rhythm of city life. By creating a dialogue between a rich epigraphic corpus and many literary texts, this study will reconstruct the diachronic evolution of the methods of celebrating birthdays, military victories and triumphs. Moreover, it will reflect on if and how these festivals assumed the role of public anniversaries by exploring the different ways in which they were recorded in different sources and their reception by Romans of different social classes. Particular attention will also be given to the dates of dedication of the inscriptions that record the day of these celebrations in order to understand if the day chosen was influenced by its historical meaning or it was just mere coincidence. Overall, this book will show that the calendars are a mirror that reflects different socio-political issues and therefore function as a lens through which we can better understand the political history of Ancient Rome.
AYP Vol. II: Attic Festivals, Pt. 3, The Most Likely (Athenian Calendar)
Athenian Year Primer Vol. II, 2024
Chapter from the forthcoming Athenian Year Primer Vol. II. The excerpt presupposes familiarity with the methodologies and arguments presented in AYP. Following the progress from last Chapter (also posted to academia.edu), I continue analyses of ancient Athenian festivals and large public sacrifices. I focus here on those whose dates have become almost certainly established but do not remain fool proof. I also argue that ancient Attic days could not have reckoned sunset to sunset as widely believed, because it creates too many accounting problems.