This terracotta lamp has separate nozzles for six wicks, allowing it to burn with the strength of six little lamps. This was practical, too: lots of lamps were needed to light the nighttime celebrations. In Roman homes, wax candles were placed as offerings on household altars to Saturn, especially during the final days of the festival. During the dark days around the solstice, candles were reminders of the return of the sun after winter. Wax candles and oil lamps were also popular Saturnalia gifts. Happy is he whose escort is a knight of his own making.” That is to say, happy is he who gave the gift of knighthood to his friend. Martial’s ring epigram (speaking from the perspective of the ring itself) reflects fondly on the generous gifts of the good old days: “In time past friends often gave us as presents, but nowadays it rarely happens. For a gold hairpin, Martial writes, “That your oiled tresses may not injure your splendid silk dress, let this pin fix your twisted hair, and keep it up.”Įnjoy stories about art, and news about Getty exhibitions and events, with our free e-newsletter Martial wrote epigrams (short satirical poems) for the many possible gifts of Saturnalia-fattened pigs, incense, turtledoves, glass cups, ivory knucklebones, lamps, and clay statuettes, to name a few. Let everyone give his guest an appropriate gift.” The Roman poet Martial described something like a White Elephant gift exchange: “At this time of the year, when the equestrians and senators show off their party clothes, and even the emperor wears a freedman’s cap…accept the gift you have drawn, whether from a poor or a rich man. In another topsy-turvy tradition, households would appoint a mock king or “Lord of Misrule” to reign over everyone and give silly orders like telling someone to shout embarrassing insults, dance naked, or chase others around the house.Īlong with drinking, feasting, and gambling, exchanging gifts was a popular Saturnalia tradition. And everyone would wear the freedman’s cap, a conical felt hat awarded to freed slaves, to celebrate the liberty and free spirit of the holiday. Instead of the formal and unwieldy toga, Romans of all ranks would put on a synthesis, a comfortable and colorful dinner dress that was normally reserved for private dinner parties. Strict Roman dress codes were also overturned. During the holiday week, a time of role-reversal, enslaved people could attend banquets and were celebrated with gifts and wine. “Everywhere there is clapping and singing and playing games, and everyone, slave and free man, is held as good as his neighbor,” he says. In one ancient account, the god Saturn was featured describing the festival. These “deluxe” knucklebones, pictured below, do not go together, but numerous examples have been found across the Roman Empire and are frequently depicted in painting and sculpture, suggesting the widespread popularity of the game. They were later fashioned from all sorts of materials like wood, stone, and terracotta, but from also fancier mediums like translucent glass, bronze, gold, ivory, and precious gems. As their name implies, they were originally made from the foot bones of a goat or sheep-easily accessible and cheap. Knucklebones ( tali or astragaloi in Greek) were used for games of chance-they could be rolled like dice or played like jacks. According to some accounts, you were only supposed to gamble for nuts, not money, to recreate the golden age of Saturn. Gambling, normally outlawed, was allowed in public. When the Roman poet Statius attended Emperor Domitian’s Saturnalia feast in the late first century AD, he left this five-star review: “Who can sing of the spectacle, the unrestrained mirth, the banqueting, the unbought feast, the lavish streams of wine? Ah! now I faint, and drunken with thy liquor drag myself at last to sleep.”ĭuring Saturnalia, a time of jovial merrymaking, many social norms were relaxed and inverted. Businesses and law courts were closed so everyone could take part. In Rome, the holiday was kicked off with a religious ceremony in the Temple of Saturn, followed by a free public banquet open to all. Originally just one day, over the centuries the festivities grew to last a whole week, starting on December 17 and coinciding with the winter solstice.
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