Christmas is a time to relax and look after ourselves, this year perhaps more so than ever. And a little bit of what you fancy does you good, or at least that's how the saying goes.

 

However, ideas of gift-giving, feasting, and general merry-making that occur at the end of December have a history dating back a long while before Christmas. And just as is might be hard to resist delicious treats and a glass too many of eggnog today, the Roman festival of Saturnalia appears to have included some of the traits that echo down to us in our seasonal celebrations.

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Ray Laurence’s book Roman Passions A History of Pleasure in Imperial Rome (Continuum, 2009) has a very useful section on Saturnalia, which has previously featured on the Ancient Worlds blog. Laurence discusses the activities that took place during the festival, which included the exchange of presents, and (from the early 1st century BCE) drinking on an empty stomach together with its consequences.

 

While we might not think of drunkenness and vomiting as being  things that would be celebrated throughout the Roman Empire, as Ray Laurence explains, they did come to characterise the mid-winter festival of Saturnalia. The extensive trade networks of the time made available a range of products such as high-quality wine and other commodities, some of which appear to have been specially imported with the Saturnalia in mind.

 

Laurence suggests a novel explanation for the crate of northern Italian lamps and southern Gaulish samian ware vessels discovered in the ruins of Pompeii. The 76 pottery bowls of two very similar types were not intended for resale in a local shop and Laurence asks what the owner would do with such a uniformity of products. Was the crate a box of gifts awaiting redistribution at a festival such as Saturnalia? And these are only the commodities that happen to survive archaeologically. Rich foods and drink were also imported and consumed in large quantities, though they have left few traces save for their packaging.

 

Given the over-indulgence that took place during the festival, it is easy to see how drinking too much and making oneself feel ill came to be associated with Saturnalia. Laurence writes about how the action of vomiting at this time of the year was seen as potentially beneficial to health. Though the vomitorium or room in which to vomit is now regarded as mythical, it is known that a variety of products were taken to either prevent or induce retching. Of course, vomitoria did exist at amphitheatres and stadia, but from the verb 'to spew forth' these in fact were passages designed to allow large crowds to leave the premises quickly and safely.

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Please remember to eat and drink responsibly and take care of yourselves this Christmas.

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Bryan Sitch

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Title image: A Saturnalia gift? Shown above is a Roman samian bowl similar to those found in a crate at Pompeii (Manchester Museum collection).