Roman Solstice Celebrations
Midwinter Festivals Celebrated by the Romans on the 25th December
Nov 30, 2008
Before and even after the advent of Christianity, the 25th December was the day the Romans marked the turning of the year and the rebirth of the sun. The Brumalia marked the 25th as the shortest day whilst later, eastern influenced cults such as Mithras and Sol Invictus celebrated it as the birthdates of their cult deities. These solar celebrations may have influenced the date that Christians chose to celebrate the birth of Christ.
Brumalia
The reorganisation of the Roman calendar under Julius Caesar in 45BC placed the date of the winter solstice on the 25th December (the equivalent of the 21st or 22nd December using the modern calendar.) The Brumalia derived its name from the Latin bruma or shortest day and was celebrated to mark midwinter at the end of Saturnalia. The festivities were reputedly based in a Greek festival dedicated to Dionysus that was concluded in late December. Merriment and drinking were the traditional festivities as well as reading the auspices for the coming year.
Natalis Sol Invicti
The sun had always been worshipped in Rome. Initially it was worshipped as an agrarian deity, Sol Indiges or the native or invoked sun. In the third century AD, this native cult underwent a transformation owing to the influence of solar deities from elsewhere in the empire. Taking on the attributes of foreign sun gods such as the Syrian Elah Gabal, Sol Indiges became a hybrid deity known as Sol Invictus or the victorious sun.
The cult became the chief cult of the empire due to imperial patronage which is evident from its name, invictus being taken from the imperial title pius felix invictus-dutiful, fortunate and unconquered. It was the Emperor Elagabalus in the early third century who introduced the celebration of the birth of sol Invictus on the 25th December. It had reached the pinnacle of its popularity later in the century under Aurelian who established it as an empire wide holiday.
Mithras
Mithras began as a Persian deity known as Mithra, a god of light and regeneration. His cult was spread by the Greek after Alexander the Great’s invasion of Persia. In the third century AD, his cult had achieved popularity in the Roman empire amongst soldiers and merchants and Mithras became known as the ‘protector of the empire.’
In mythology, Mithras was born on the 25th December bearing a torch and a knife, under a tree besides a sacred stream. Soon after his birth, he slayed the cosmic bull whose blood fertilized the earth. The symbolism of light and regeneration through death are motifs of Mithras’s relevance as a solar deity and he was often linked with Sol Invictus. His affiliation with the sun is emphasized by the design of many Mithraea, the name given Mithras’s temples. Many were designed with an opening that allowed a ray of the sun to appear about the god’s head at certain times of the year.
The Birth of Christ
The dating of Christ’s birth could owe a great deal to these solar celebrations. The New Testament contains no evidence linking the nativity to the 25th December. It was not until AD 221 that Sextus Julius Africanus linked the birth of Christ to this date.
The evidence of Christian writers of the third and fourth century make clear that the solar motifs of the resurgence of light and rebirth of the sun belonging to the pagan cults were being attributed to Christ, For this reason the 25th December, was becoming regarded as his birth date. Cyprian made reference to the birth of Christ on the day of the rebirth of the sun. ‘They call it the birthday of the unconquered,’ commented John Chrysostom in the fourth century.’ Who indeed is so unconquered as our lord?’ Many other writers such as St Augustine did not approve of this practice, denounced the association of Christ with pagan practices and beliefs.
Sources
"Sun Worship." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica 2007 Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica,
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"Mithra." Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica 2007 Ultimate Reference Suite. (
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Ancient Mystery Cults (1987) by Walter Bukert.Harvard University Press.
