The history of Saturnalia, as told in the video by Somerton Primary School

Items in this story:

The students from Somerton Primary School came to the national Roman Legion Museum in Caerleon as part of the Kids in Museums Takeover Day, 2016. They took over to tell the story of the Roman mid-winter festival of Saturnalia. They wrote, scripted and filmed the video in this collection. They also went behind the scenes to the Museum's store room to have a look at some Roman objects, then chose and photographed these items to help tell the story. 

 

Saturnalia was a mid-winter feast celebrated by the Romans. A Roman called Catallus called it their greatest festival of the year – optimus dierum! The best of days!  

 

It began on the 17th of December and was celebrated for five days, just before the time of year that Christmas is celebrated. The Romans had a lot of traditions that may seem a little familiar if you celebrate Christmas!  

 

Saturnalia celebrated the god Saturn. Saturn was thanked for the harvest, and the Romans prayed to him for plenty of food the next year. From statues, and Caerleon’s silver finger ring fragment, we can tell that Romans thought he looked like an old man with a thick white beard and long white curly hair. His appearance is much like ‘Father Christmas’, but wearing different clothes. 

 

Saturn was said to have once been a ruler on earth. His reign was said to have been a ‘Golden Age’ of peace, of equality and goodwill amongst men. 

 

During Saturnalia, Romans wore a pointy soft felt hat called a Pileus, or Freedman’s hat. This was a symbol of freedom and was normally only worn by freed slaves. During Saturnalia slaves were given some time off, allowed to speak freely and their masters might even serve them food at a feast! These customs re-enact Saturn’s ‘Golden Age’ in that everyone pretended to be equal, and appeared to be equal for the day. 

 

Romans also gave each other presents. These presents could include pottery, wax or wooden figures for children, grooming kits, wax tablets or beads. They would also often give each other candles. In the army, an extra deduction from pay was made for Saturnalia to pay for extra rations, including pork. 

 

Houses were decorated with evergreen garlands and wreaths. These included holly and ivy. Holly was sacred to Saturn. They would also hang stars and Janus heads on trees outside. Janus was a god with two faces, one looking back towards the past and the other forwards towards the future. 

 

There were big public and private feasts during Saturnalia. Rich Romans might eat foods like dormice, peacock’s brains and snails. Gambling with dice and board games were popular. During most of December, the Romans could watch gladiators fight too. During Saturnalia, the Romans shouted “Io Saturnalia!” to each other, which is like wishing someone a ‘merry Christmas or ‘season’s greeting’, but very loudly!