#Io saturnalia translation free
Traupman) they would have wished each other " Io Saturnalia!" or " Hilara Saturnalia!" (See Mary Beard's Five Things the Roman's Did At Christmas to find out more about Saturnalia.)Ĭheck out the Rosa Latina website for some holiday ideas! Latin teacher and author, Rose Williams, has an excellent selection of free teaching packets available there, including including Holidays for Latin Class.
They celebrated the ancient holiday Saturnalia, so according to The Bantam New College Latin & English Dictionary, Revised Edition (3rd edition, also written by Dr.
#Io saturnalia translation how to
You might have also heard about the cult of Sol Invictus in ancient Rome, the ‘Unconquered Sun’ in Latin: a poetical way to remind that after the longest night of the year, the Sun would slowly bring its light back.Soon it will be December (tomorrow!) which means it is time to start planning for Christmas and Hanukkah!Īccording t o John Traupman's Conversational Latin for Oral Proficiency (4th edition), this is how to wish someone a Merry Christmas in Latin: "Faustem ac felicem Christi natalem (tibi exopto)!" Of course, the Romans didn't celebrate Christmas. It was then easier – and in a way, very universal – for Latin societies to refer to that day as the ‘birth’. Many gods and heroes had their birth around that moment: Mithra, Horus, Dionysus, etc. If you consider that the Winter Solstice looks like the cosmic rebirth of the Sun in the middle of Winter, you might easily imagine why for many ancient people, that day was a ‘birth’ day. NATIVITATEM ➲ NA(TI)VITAT ➲ NA(DI)VIDAD ➲ NAVIDAD Latin word Nativitatem which exactly meant ‘birth’, became Navidad in Spanish and its evolution is pretty much straightforward: Latin word Natalem, in the phrase Natalem diem, which literally means ‘birth day’, became Noël in French over time and its evolution over the centuries should have looked like something like this: Here is short description of the evolution of both words. Both of them are alterations of original Latin words that deal with birth. French language has Noël and Spanish has Navidad.
All Romance languages countries, such as France, Spain, Portugal or Italy, have retained a name which is related with ‘birth’. In non-English speaking countries of Europe, other words appeared to replace the pagan names of Midwinter Festival. Historians believe these could be the actual pagan roots of the modern Christmas celebrations were people stop working, gather with family and friends, and offer gifts to each other. People used to light up candles and decorate their places and gifts were offered, still in the name of the god Saturn. The Saturnalia were a good opportunity for Romans to have joyful parties and games in which slaves were set free during the whole festival, and social classes were all messed up in purpose, as a symbol of freedom and joy. This Roman Midwinter Festival was called Saturnalia in honour of the ancient god Saturn – equivalent of the Greek god Cronus – who was pictured as a bearded man with a scarf covering his head. Romans had a similar festival that started on the 17th of December and lasted precisely until before the Winter Solstice. In English, this moment was called Yule and then Yuletide. It’s obviously impossible to avoid the Christian aspect of the celebration with such a name.īut you might know that in ancient time and in pre-Christian time, there was a famous Midwinter Festival which was shared across old European societies and which were all evolving around the Winter Solstice – which is now happening near or on the 21st of December in the Gregorian calendar. The word comes from Old English Cristesmæsse which literally meant ‘mass of Christ’ as you could expect. In the word Christmas, you can’t avoid the Christian root or the Christian heritage of the celebration. And apart from the gifts that you might be waiting for on the 25th day of this month, another question remains: what is the origin of Christmas?Įnglish language uses a very specific word to refer to this moment of the year.
Maybe at home, in your own place, your living-room has been prepared now for the celebrations of December. Malls and public places are covered with garlands and decorated trees. NOTE: The following post is not an opinion but a didactic post for students, previously published on Lamptēr Glossōn and republished here.
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