Posted by Ilya Somin:
Happy Saturnalia!
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2008_12_21-2008_12_27.shtml#1230052365
Today is the last day of[1] Saturnalia, the ancient Roman winter
festival. Congratulations to our many Roman pagan readers!
Here's what Saturnalia involved, according to the[2] Encyclopedia
Romana:
During the holiday, restrictions were relaxed and the social order
inverted. Gambling was allowed in public. Slaves were permitted to
use dice and did not have to work. . . Within the family, a Lord of
Misrule was chosen. Slaves were treated as equals, allowed to wear
their masters' clothing, and be waited on at meal time in
remembrance of an earlier golden age thought to have been ushered
in by the god. In the Saturnalia, Lucian relates that "During My
week the serious is barred; no business allowed. Drinking, noise
and games and dice, appointing of kings and feasting of slaves,
singing naked, clapping of frenzied hands, an occasional ducking of
corked faces in icy water�such are the functions over which I
preside."
Although Saturnalia is ending, it's not too late to take advantage of
the inversion of the social order. Professors switching places with
students fits well with the Roman custom of slaves switching places
with masters. So if any of my students want to grade the huge pile of
Property exams currently awaiting my ministrations, you are more than
welcome!
References
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia
2.
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/calendar/saturnalia.html
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