Editing Saturnalia (section)

==Public religious observance==
{{See also|Religion in ancient Rome}}
===Rite at the temple of Saturn===
[[File:Tavares.Forum.Romanum.redux.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.25|Ruins of the [[Temple of Saturn]] (eight columns on right) in Rome, traditionally said to have been constructed in 497 BC{{sfn|Palmer|1997|page=63}}{{sfn|Mueller|2010|page=221}}]]

The statue of Saturn at his main temple normally had its feet bound in wool, which was removed for the holiday as an act of liberation.<ref>[[Macrobius]] 1.8.5, citing [[Verrius Flaccus]] as his authority; see also [[Statius]], ''Silvae'' 1.6.4; [[Arnobius]] 4.24; [[Minucius Felix]] 23.5; Miller, "Roman Festivals," in ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome'', p. 172</ref>{{sfn|Versnel|1992|page=142}} The official rituals were carried out according to "Greek rite" ''([[ritus graecus]])''. The sacrifice was officiated by a priest,<ref>The identity or title of this priest is unknown; perhaps the ''[[rex sacrorum]]'' or one of the [[Roman Magistrates|magistrates]]: [[William Warde Fowler]], ''The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic'' (London, 1908), p. 271.</ref> whose head was uncovered; in Roman rite, priests sacrificed ''[[capite velato]]'', with head covered by a special fold of the [[toga]].{{sfn|Versnel|1992|pages=139–140}} This procedure is usually explained by  Saturn's [[interpretatio graeca|assimilation with his Greek counterpart]] [[Cronus]], since the Romans often adopted and reinterpreted [[Greek mythology|Greek myths]], iconography, and even religious practices for [[List of Roman deities|their own deities]], but the uncovering of the priest's head may also be one of the Saturnalian reversals, the opposite of what was normal.{{sfn|Versnel|1992|page=140}}

Following the sacrifice the [[Roman Senate]] arranged a ''[[lectisternium]]'', a ritual of Greek origin that typically involved placing a deity's image on a sumptuous couch, as if he were present and actively participating in the festivities. A public banquet followed ''([[Symposium|convivium]] publicum)''.<ref>[[Livy]] 22.1; {{harvnb|Palmer|1997|page=63}}</ref>{{sfn|Versnel|1992|page=141}}

The day was supposed to be a holiday from all forms of work. Schools were closed, and exercise regimens were suspended. Courts were not in session, so no justice was administered, and no [[declaration of war]] could be made.<ref>{{harvnb|Versnel|1992|page=147}}, citing [[Pliny the Younger]], ''Letters'' 8.7.1, [[Martial]] 5.84 and 12.81; [[Lucian]], ''Cronosolon'' 13; Macrobius, ''Saturnalia'' 1.10.1, 4, 23.</ref> After the public rituals, observances continued [[domus|at home]].{{sfn|Beard|North|Price|1998a|page=50}} On 18 and 19 December, which were also holidays from public business, families conducted domestic rituals. They bathed early, and those with means sacrificed a [[suckling pig]], a traditional offering to an [[chthonic|earth deity]].<ref>[[Horace]], ''Odes'' 3.17, Martial 14.70; Fowler, ''Roman Festivals'', p. 272.</ref>

===Human offerings===
[[File:Oscillum con due maschere di pan e baccante, arte galloromana, I sec dc.JPG|thumb|During Saturnalia, the Romans offered ''[[oscilla|oscillum]]'', effigies of human heads, in place of real human heads.<ref name="Taylor"/><ref name="Chance"/>]]
Saturn also had a less benevolent aspect. One of his consorts was [[Lua (goddess)|Lua]], sometimes called ''Lua Saturni'' ("Saturn's Lua") and identified with Lua Mater, "Mother Destruction", a goddess in whose honor the weapons of enemies killed in war were burned, perhaps in expiation.<ref>{{harvnb |Mueller |2010 |page=222}}; Versnel, however, proposes that ''Lua Saturni'' should not be identified with ''Lua Mater'', but rather refers to "loosening": she represents the liberating function of Saturn {{harvnb |Versnel |1992 |page=144}}</ref> Saturn's [[chthonic]] nature connected him to the underworld and its ruler [[Dīs Pater]], the Roman equivalent of Greek [[Pluto (mythology)|Plouton]] (Pluto in Latin) who was also a god of hidden wealth.<ref>{{harvnb |Versnel |1992 |pages=144–145}} See also the [[Satre (Etruscan god)|Etruscan god Satre]].</ref> In sources of the third century AD and later, Saturn is recorded as receiving dead [[gladiator]]s as offerings (''munera'') during or near the Saturnalia.<ref>For instance, [[Ausonius]], ''Eclogue'' 23 and ''De feriis Romanis'' 33–7. See {{harvnb |Versnel |1992 |pages=146 and 211–212}} and [[Thomas Ernst Josef Wiedemann|Thomas E. J. Wiedemann]], ''Emperors and Gladiators'' (Routledge, 1992, 1995), p. 47.</ref> These gladiatorial events, ten days in all throughout December, were presented mainly by the [[quaestor]]s and sponsored with funds from the treasury of Saturn.<ref>More precisely, eight days were subsidized from the Imperial treasury (''arca fisci'') and two mostly by the sponsoring [[Roman Magistrates|magistrate]]. Salzmann, Michele Renee, ''On Roman Time: The Codex-Calendar of 354 and the Rhythms of Urban Life in Late Antiquity'' ([[University of California Press]], 1990), p. 186.</ref>

The practice of gladiator ''munera'' was criticized by [[Christian apologists]] as a form of [[Religion in ancient Rome#Human sacrifice|human sacrifice]].{{sfn |Mueller |2010 |page=222}}{{sfn |Versnel |1992 |page=146}} Although there is no evidence of this practice during the Republic, the offering of gladiators led to later theories that the primeval Saturn had demanded human victims. Macrobius says that Dīs Pater was placated with human heads and Saturn with sacrificial victims consisting of men (''virorum [[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#victima|victimis]]'').<ref>Macrobius, ''Saturnalia'' 1.7.31</ref>{{sfn |Versnel |1992 |page=146}} In mythic lore, during the visit of [[Hercules in ancient Rome|Hercules to Italy]], the civilizing demigod insisted that the practice be halted and the ritual reinterpreted. Instead of heads to Dīs Pater, the Romans were to offer effigies or masks ''([[oscilla]])''; a mask appears in the representation of Saturnalia in the [[Chronograph of 354|Calendar of Filocalus]]. Since the Greek word ''phota'' meant both 'man' and 'lights', candles were a substitute offering to Saturn for the light of life.<ref name="Taylor">{{cite journal |last=Taylor |first=Rabun |title=Roman ''Oscilla'': An Assessment |journal=RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics |volume=48 |date=2005 |issue=48 |location=Chicago, Illinois |publisher=The [[University of Chicago Press]] |page=101|doi=10.1086/RESv48n1ms20167679 |jstor=20167679 |s2cid=193568609 }}</ref><ref name="Chance">{{cite book |last=Chance |first=Jane |date=1994 |title=Medieval Mythography: From Roman North Africa to the School of Chartres, A.D. 433–1177 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3J3-0I7YLfoC |location=Gainesville, Florida |publisher=University Press of Florida |isbn=9780813012568 |pages=71–72}}</ref> The figurines that were exchanged as gifts (''[[sigillaria (ancient Rome)|sigillaria]]'') may also have represented token substitutes.<ref>[[Macrobius]], ''Saturnalia'' 1.10.24; Carlin A. Barton, ''The Sorrows of the Ancient Romans: The Gladiator and the Monster'' ([[Princeton University Press]], 1993), p. 166. For another Roman ritual that may represent human sacrifice, see [[Argei]]. ''[[Oscilla]]'' were also part of the [[Feriae Latinae|Latin Festival]] and the [[Compitalia]]: Fowler, ''Roman Festivals'', p. 272.</ref>