Io Saturnalia!

This is an article I originally wrote for Education Otherwise but I decided it should get a wider audience here.



Back in December 2003 we were reading Caroline Lawrence's The Twelve Tasks of Flavia, on of the books in her Roman Mysteries series. In it the Roman festival of Saturnalia is described.

So we decided that we would have a Saturnalia day on December 21st that year. Io Saturnalia!

We researched into it by checking out various websites as well as reading the book. Then we invited another home educating family for a Sunday lunch with a difference. In Roman times the festival would run for several days but we decided that one day would suffice, especially as we still had Christmas to come and so many of the Christmas traditions were originally based on Saturnalia. In fact it is said that the Christians stole Saturnalia from the Pagans, then commercialism stole it from the Christians, and now the Pagans are trying to take it back again!

We dispensed with the usual sacrifice at the temple, but we did choose a Lord of Misrule for the day. Actually, we chose a Lord and a Lady, the two seven year olds! The idea of this is that the servants and children become the rulers for the day. In Roman times it was all part of the fun, so they weren't really rulers for the day, but the citizens of Rome played the part of the servants and the servants and children were waited on for the day. So for that day we let the children play at being in charge. Unfortunately I am also the regular servant in the house so I was still in charge of serving the food!

We decorated the house with greenery from the garden, just as the Romans would have. Although the Christmas tree didn't come into play until much later, the Romans would have had garlands similar to the ivy ones we put up that day.

Dolls and hats featured in Roman Saturnalia. Dolls were traditionally given to the children, and dolls featured in the plot of Caroline Lawrence's book so we sat down to make some clothes-peg dolls to give to each other. We also had a bag of scraps with which we made silly hats for each other. This tradition lives on today in the form of the paper hats that come out of the Christmas crackers.

No festival is complete without a feast, so we had a Roman feast while reclining on cushions on the floor. Unfortunately we couldn't come up with authentic couches! We used earthenware to serve the food on, ate off of platters, and used our fingers. We stuck to food available in Roman times: olives; roast chicken with a modern version of garam; green beans, olives and salad; home made bread made with grape juice; and for dessert dates and almonds roasted with honey and black pepper. The children even bravely tried the warm drink that Flavia has for breakfast: half milk, half spiced wine with a little grated cheese over the top.

The two families had a wonderful day that day, but unfortunately we have never again been in the same place at the same time to recreate Saturnalia. But we still decorate the house for Christmas on the Solstice with greenery, and say 'Io Saturnalia' to each other.