![]() In the fourth century - so the story goes - the early church fathers deliberately re-branded a popular pagan holiday as a Christian festival, in order to make their religion more attractive to converts. No more gifts?: Stop buying holiday gifts, says activist and 'Reverend' of The Church of Stop ShoppingĬhristmas lights: The most spectacular holiday houses in North Jersey ![]() Holidays: Celebrate 'It's a Wonderful Life' and other classics with anniversaries this Christmas Historians argue about the exact relation between Saturnalia and Christmas - the holiday that, by many accounts, grew out of it. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record."This was a festive season for the Romans, that was continued by the Christians in a sense," said historian Scott McDonough, who teaches ancient history courses at William Paterson University in Wayne. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at for further information. HANSEN: Diane Roberts observes the holidays around her family's seasonal shrub in Tallahassee, Florida.Ĭopyright © 2005 NPR. I say, `Io, Saturnalia,' and if you don't like it, you can leave. None of this foreign heretical nonsense or these strange customs from Germania or Hibernia or Palestine. Well, by Jupiter, I live in Latium, I'm a Roman and this empire was founded on the principle that the gods, our gods, must be honored at the appropriate time and in the appropriate way. We're cosmopolitan around here.'Ĭosmopolitan that's what they call it. But Septima Commidia just said, `Oh, get over it. I'd be scared of what the lorries(ph) and penatties(ph) would do if I put that thing in my house. She had this statue of some goddess from Ultima Thule or somewhere-name of Frigga-sitting right there on the dining room mensa. `It's holly,' she said, `the latest fashion from Britannia. I swear, I was at this party over at Septima Commodia's house the other day-she always has a Saturnalia party-anyway, she decorated the place with prickly green leaves. At this time of year, the Visigoths sacrifice a pig and burn a special log which they then dance around instead of acting like normal people and going to the temple of Saturn. I was buying some candles and greenery down by the Forum the other day and there's old Macrobius with some Visigoth chick, and she goes, `Good yule.' So I go, `Hey, in this country, we say, "Io, Saturnalia." Maybe you should go back from where you came from.' Then Macrobius goes, `She can't she's a slave.' Whatever. I ask you, what next? We lose the feast? We stop the solstice parties? No more honoring Ops, goddess of abundance? We've got the barbarians from the north with their tree decorations and their fire rituals, and the weirdos from Gaul cutting mistletoe with a golden sickle, and the Mithraists, the Zoroastrians, the Isis cults and, of course, those characters that hang out in the catacombs.' `Hail, winter,' we're supposed to say. `We shouldn't offend anyone,' they tell us. What's this empire coming to? Now they want us to stop greeting people with, `Io, Saturnalia.' `We have all these different cultures in Rome,' they tell us. The perennial question is upon us: Whether to wish someone a merry Christmas or a happy Hanukkah or a good Kwanzaa, or take the generic route and say `Seasons greetings' or `Happy holidays'? Essayist Diane Roberts imagines that things haven't changed much since Rome ruled the world.
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