The Battle of Lake Trasimene, the biggest ambush in military history, took place in June of 217 BC. An army of 30,000 Romans, led by Consul Gaius Flaminus, was lured by Hannibal into the trap of marching across the northern shores of Lake Trasimene and then ambushed from 3 sides. Half of the Roman army was destroyed and a sixth of it captured, with just a third escaping to fight another day. It was a terrible defeat – so terrible that many Roman citizens were deeply depressed. They were concerned that Rome itself might fall.
In an effort to raise morale, the Senate officially inaugurated a public banquet on Saturnalia, when the God Saturn was honored on December 17th, just prior to Brumalia. Many of the traditions, including the days of dulocracy, which grew out of that banquet continued for centuries.
4. Dulocracy. Dulocracy is rule by slaves. This seems like a contradiction in terms. If a body of slaves in any country revolted and overcame their masters, they would no longer be slaves and it would simply amount to a regime change. So why is there a word for this?
Well, it may be because on Saturnalia every year dulocracy was installed for at least a day. The length of Saturnalia varied from time to time, but always started on December 17th and often ran through to Brumalia. It was the most popular Roman festival, just as Christmas is the most popular modern day festival.
December the 17th was a little like our Christmas day, with Romans presenting a sprig of holly and gifts to friends and family. The days that followed were celebrated by drunken merrymaking, sexual excess and even a tradition of singing naked in the streets. The naked singing was the precursor of modern caroling, which, sadly, is nowadays practiced fully clothed.
The Saturnalia banquet was opened with the shout of “Io Saturnalia” and presided over by an appointed “Lord of Misrule.” This appointed Lord was always a slave, but a particularly powerful one for the period of Saturnalia, because he could order just about anyone to do just about anything. The Lord of Misrule was a sacrifice to Saturn and would have his throat cut in the temple of Saturn, when Saturnalia came to a close. However, that tradition of human sacrifice was abandoned eventually, so in time the Lord of Misrule survived his reign.
In the days following the banquet, a good humored dulocracy occurred with a complete reversal of roles across society – the slaves becoming masters and masters becoming slaves. No work was carried out. Gambling, otherwise discouraged or banned, was openly permitted, even for slaves, and slaves were exempt from punishment, except for the most egregious behavior.
As you might expect, Saturnalia carried over to the Christian era where it was renamed “the Feast of Fools.” In efforts to make it coincide with Christian celebrations, in time it was compressed to a single day and moved to coincide with either the Feast of the Holy Innocents (28th December) or the Feast of the Circumcision (1st January).
In the medieval version, the Feast of Fools became more elaborate, with a cast of mock ecclesiastical characters; the Pope of Fools, the Archbishop of Dolts, the Boy Bishop and the Abbot of Unreason, replete with mock ceremonies appointing them.
As you might expect, the church eventually began to regard such proceedings as unacceptably disrespectful. So the Feast of Fools was outlawed by the Council of Basel, and later by Queen Mary of England in 1555. Nevertheless, it survived in one form or another, being taken up by the guilds.
It survives in the UK to this day as Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, when servants (or, more likely, the milkman and the postman) are honored and given presents.
The following are links to all the Xmas words: #1 Hwoelor-tid, #2 Brumalia, #3 Protomartyr, #4 Dulocracy, #5 Pohutukawa, #6 Hagiolatry, #7 Sinterklaas, #8 Prolicide, #9 Apophoret,#10 Kenosis,#11 Psilanthropy,#12 Parepochism
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
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