io saturnalia 46
Expression of celebration and jubilation that the Romans shouted in the streets constantly in the Saturnal Feasts that they celebrated now, the days before the winter solstice from December 17 to 23: Happy Saturnalia! . Expression similar to our Merry Christmas! but with more longing for physical enjoyment than spiritual. Wine was not lacking and slaves exchanged their roles with their masters. Christianized the empire, Christmas covered with its delicate mantle these festivities dedicated to Saturn, the god who dethroned his father Uranus by mowing his virility and then ate his own children.