Saturnalia Explained

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Uploaded 12-12-19

What is Saturnalia? You may have heard of this Roman holiday, but the details are scant and fragmentary from Roman sources. This video explains what we know about Saturnalia and whether or not it influenced the institution of Christmas.

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PRIMARY SOURCES:
Chronographia anni 354
Seneca, "Moral Letters"
Lucian, "Saturnalia"
Athenaeus, "The Learned Banqueters"
Plutarch, "Moralia"
Macrobius, "Saturnalia"
Martial
Suetonius, "Augustus" and "Vespasian"
Pliny, "Letters," 4
Historia Augusta, Life of Verus, 7
Justinus
"Collection of Memorable Things"
Epictetus, "Discourses"
Catullus 14
Hippolytus, "Chronograph" and "Commentary on Daniel"
Julius Africanus, "Chronograph"
Augustine "On the Trinity"
On Solstices and Equinoxes

SECONDARY SOURCES:

Andrew McGowan, "How December 25 Became Christmas," https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/jesus-historical-jesus/how-december-25-became-christmas/

C. Philipp E. Nothaft, "Early Christian Chronology and the Origins of the Christmas Date: In Defense of the 'Calculation Theory,'" QL 94 (2013), 247-265.

Thomas Schmidt, “Calculating December 25 as the Birth of Jesus in Hippolytus’ Canon and Chronicon,” Vigiliae Christian 69 (2015) 542-563: https://tcschmidtblog.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/schmidt-calculating-december-25-as-the-birth-of-jesus-in-hippolytus1.pdf

Fanny Dolansky, "Celebrating the Saturnalia: Religious Ritual and Roman Domestic Life,” Chapter 29 in A Companion to Families in the Greek and Roman Worlds," 2010.

Gaston Halsberghe, Cult of Sol Invictus, Brill 2015.



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