Saturnalia

The custom, which can also involve senior personnel serving a festive meal to those of lower rank, has its roots in the Roman festival of Saturnalia.

The Romans celebrated Saturnalia on that day in honour of Saturn and later the unconquered sun.

On Sunday he’ll ride the undefeated Saturnalia, who is regarded as a potential champion, in the Japan Derby.

This year attention will focus on a horse called Saturnalia, who goes into the Derby unbeaten, and statistically faces a hard task, with only three other Derby winners fitting that profile.

Lemaire’s colt had a brief lead in the final dash of the 2,000-meter race, but Saturnalia stole the show when it sprinted past the second favorite in the final stretch.

The Church also allowed the first Christmases to be celebrated more or less like the Saturnalia festivities to co-opt most of the new pagan convert in those days, into the fold.

For the start of the Roman Saturnalia, on December 17 authorities chose an enemy of the Roman people to represent the Lord of Misrule in each community.

However, evidence is insufficient to establish a direct origin from Saturnalia or other ancient festivals.

Macrobius (translated by Percival V. Davies): The Saturnalia.

The portion of Saturnalia devoted to Ops was "Opalia", similar to opalus.

This auctioning was called venditio or locatio, and seems to have taken place in the month of March, Macrobius Saturnalia i.12.

Various writers of the time condemned caroling as lewd, indicating that the unruly traditions of Saturnalia and Yule may have continued in this form.