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| The Roman god Saturn |
The day was a public holiday and even schools were closed. Gifts were exchanged and everyone was supposed to have fun. Everyone wore their best clothes and togas - a symbol of rank - were forbidden. Instead everybody wore the 'freedman' hat.
A Saturnalian prince was chosen from among the youngest members of the family and he ruled over the rest for the day.
The correct greeting was 'Io, Saturnalia!' (Meaning Ho - praise to Saturn.) It was pronounced Yo.
So... Yo! Saturnalia to you all.
7 comments:
Hi Anne .. always interesting to learn these old customs ..
Yo Saturnalia .. to you too - cheers Hilary
Yo dudes! I think the officers serving the men is not just a naval tradition, other services do or did that too, but the navy has odd traditions. They would not let me into HMS Gangese,a building which is entierly on dry land, whenever the tide was out.
I'm loving your daily advent news. Army officers also used to serve infantry soldiers on duty on Christmas day. :)
I enjoy learning how traditions evolve. I'm currently reading a biography about Dietrich Bonhoeffer and he discussed the wisdom of the early Church in incorporating ancient mythical traditions in its calendar.
So that carol, the chorus of which is "and io io io" should be sung "and yo yo yo"? ;-)
Hi all - thanks for your comments.
I really hadn't thought of the io io io thing - but maybe it should! Nice one Sandra.
I love the way Christmas has its roots in these ancient festivals! Thanks for dropping in over on my blog!
xxx
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