Masters invited their slaves to dine with them or even served their slaves themselves - unthinkable at other times of the year! The food probably varied depending on the household, but it would have been a rare opportunity for slaves to eat the fine foods normally reserved for their masters, and drink lots of wine. The main Saturnalia tradition was the household feast, which could last for days. Gambling was encouraged and freeborn Romans wore colourful clothes and a pileus, a conical hat normally only worn by freed slaves, rather than formal togas. Even slaves, who led hard lives with little time off, had permission to relax and have fun. But during the Saturnalia, these rules were set aside. Throughout the year, the Romans normally followed extremely strict rules of behaviour and everyone knew their place. Starting on the 17th of December, it consisted of up to seven days of parties and public ceremonies. The Roman midwinter festival of Saturnalia was held in honour of the Roman god Saturn. That’s pretty close in date to our Christmas! People were probably gathering at winter to celebrate the midwinter solstice, as we know that the stones of Stonehenge were carefully built to align with the setting sun on the shortest day. Some of the bones were thrown away with meat still attached, so people must have had plenty of food! From plant remains found, we think they were also eating crab apples, hazelnuts, sloes and blackberries. The pork had been roasted on spits, whilst the beef had been made into stews cooked in large pots. The pigs were probably born in the spring and therefore had been killed around midwinter. By looking carefully at how much the pig teeth had been worn down, archaeological scientists were able to tell that they had mostly been killed when they were about 9 months old. Archaeological excavations at a settlement called Durrington Walls near Stonehenge have found thousands of pig and cattle bones in rubbish piles around the houses. In the late Neolithic period, we think that people gathered together to take part in midwinter feasts.
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