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Saturnalia was an ancient Roman festival in honor of the deity Saturn, held on 17 December of the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities through to 23 December. The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn, in the Roman Forum, and a public banquet, followed by private gift-giving, continual partying, and a carnival atmosphere that overturned Roman social norms: gambling was permitted, and masters provided table service for their slaves.〔John F. Miller, "Roman Festivals," in ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome'' (Oxford University Press, 2010), p. 172.〕 The poet Catullus called it "the best of days."〔Catullus 14.15 ''(optimo dierum)'', as cited by Hans-Friedrich Mueller, "Saturn," in ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome'', p. 221.〕 In Roman mythology, Saturn was an agricultural deity who was said to have reigned over the world in the Golden Age, when humans enjoyed the spontaneous bounty of the earth without labor in a state of innocence. The revelries of Saturnalia were supposed to reflect the conditions of the lost mythical age, not all of them desirable. The Greek equivalent was the Kronia.〔William F. Hansen, ''Ariadne's Thread: A Guide to International Tales Found in Classical Literature'' (Cornell University Press, 2002), p. 385.〕 Although probably the best-known Roman holiday, Saturnalia as a whole is not described from beginning to end in any single ancient source. Modern understanding of the festival is pieced together from several accounts dealing with various aspects.〔Fanny Dolansky, "Celebrating the Saturnalia: Religious Ritual and Roman Domestic Life," in ''A Companion to Families in the Greek and Roman Worlds'' (Wiley-Blackwell, 2011), p. 484.〕 The Saturnalia was the dramatic setting of the multivolume work of that name by Macrobius, a Latin writer from late antiquity who is the major source for information about the holiday. In one of the interpretations in Macrobius's work, Saturnalia is a festival of light leading to the winter solstice, with the abundant presence of candles symbolizing the quest for knowledge and truth.〔Macrobius, ''Saturnalia'' 1.1.8–9; Jane Chance, ''Medieval Mythography: From Roman North Africa to the School of Chartres, A.D. 433–1177'' (University Press of Florida, 1994), p. 71.〕 The renewal of light and the coming of the new year was celebrated in the later Roman Empire at the ''Dies Natalis'' of Sol Invictus, the "Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun," on December 25.〔Robert A. Kaster, ''Macrobius: Saturnalia, Books 1–2'' (Loeb Classical Library, 2011), note on p. 16.〕 The popularity of Saturnalia continued into the third and fourth centuries AD, and as the Roman Empire came under Christian rule, some of its customs have influenced the seasonal celebrations surrounding Christmas and the New Year.〔Mary Beard, J.A. North, and S.R.F. Price, ''Religions of Rome: A Sourcebook'' (Cambridge University Press, 1998), vol. 2, p. 124; Craig A. Williams, ''Martial: Epigrams Book Two'' (Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 259 (on the custom of gift-giving). Many observers schooled in the classical tradition have noted similarities between the Saturnalia and historical revelry during the Twelve Days of Christmas and the Feast of Fools; see entry on "Bacchanalia and Saturnalia," in ''The Classical Tradition'', edited by Anthony Grafton, Glenn W. Most, and Salvatore Settis (Harvard University Press, 2010), p. 116. "The reciprocal influences of the Saturnalia, Germanic solstitial festivals, Christmas, and Chanukkah are familiar," notes C. Bennet Pascal, "October Horse," ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'' 85 (1981), p. 289.〕 ==Public religious observance== 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.〔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; H.S. Versnel, "Saturnus and the Saturnalia," in ''Inconsistencies in Greek and Roman Religion: Transition and Reversal in Myth and Ritual'' (Brill, 1993, 1994), p. 142.〕 The official rituals were carried out according to "Greek rite" ''(ritus graecus)''. The sacrifice was officiated by a priest,〔The identity or title of this priest is unknown; perhaps the ''rex sacrorum'' or one of the magistrates: William Warde Fowler, ''The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic'' (London, 1908), p. 271.〕 whose head was uncovered; in Roman rite, priests sacrificed ''capite velato'', with head covered by a special fold of the toga.〔Versnel, "Saturnus and the Saturnalia," pp. 139–140.〕 This procedure is usually explained by Saturn's assimilation with his Greek counterpart Cronus, since the Romans often adopted and reinterpreted Greek myths, iconography, and even religious practices for 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.〔Versnel, "Saturnus and the Saturnalia," p. 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 ''(convivium publicum)''.〔Livy 22.1; Versnel, "Saturnus and the Saturnalia," p. 141; Robert E.A. Palmer, ''Rome and Carthage at Peace'' (Franz Steiner, 1997), p. 63.〕 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.〔Versnel, "Saturnus and the Saturnalia," p. 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.〕 After the public rituals, observances continued at home.〔Mary Beard, J.A. North, and S.R.F. Price, ''Religions of Rome: A History'' (Cambridge University Press, 1998), vol. 1, p. 50.〕 On December 18 and 19, 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 earth deity.〔Horace, ''Odes'' 3.17, Martial 14.70; Fowler, ''Roman Festivals'', p. 272.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Saturnalia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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