{"id":340,"date":"2013-12-22T12:37:00","date_gmt":"2013-12-22T12:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/worldreligions\/2013\/12\/did-romans-invent-christmas.html"},"modified":"2014-08-02T12:23:30","modified_gmt":"2014-08-02T17:23:30","slug":"did-romans-invent-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/worldreligions\/2013\/12\/did-romans-invent-christmas.html","title":{"rendered":"Did Romans Invent Christmas?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/embed> <a href=\\"http:\/\/www.adobe.com\/go\/getflash\\"><img src=\\"http:\/\/www.adobe.com\/images\/shared\/download_buttons\/get_flash_player.gif\\" alt=\\"Get Adobe Flash player\\" \/><\/a>','hspace':null,'vspace':null,'align':null,'bgcolor':null}\" alt=\"\"><\/object><\/p>\n

Is the Roman celebration, Saturnalia, what we\u2019re really celebrating when we celebrate Christmas? \u00a0Gift giving, mistletoe, and even the Christmas tree all come from Vikings and Saxons.<\/p>\n

\u201cChristmas in December is a Western, Roman idea\u2026\u201d says Dr Matthew Nicholls, senior lecturer in Classics at the University of Reading in England. \u00a0Romans, he argues in this BBC article<\/a>, \u00a0spent seven days from mid December partying. It was a celebration called Saturnalia \u00a0\u201cHomes were decorated, parties held and slaves became masters \u2013 at least for one banquet.\u201d Simon Sebag, who hosts the clip above, explains that pagan ritual and Christianity coexisted for decades after the conversion of Constantine the Great.<\/p>\n

Some historians, like Nichols, believe that Christianity simply merged pagan traditions with the the new religions. \u00a0For example:<\/p>\n