The Invincible Sun – Sol Invictus

Christmas day (aka Dies Natalis Solis Invicti*) is getting closer and so I thought I would pay tribute to Sol Invictus, the Invincible Sun, sometimes thought to be the same as, or at least related to, radiant Apollo – one of the most revered Gods within the Roman pantheon. While the veneration of the Sun (Sol) is certainly a genuinely ancient Roman practice, the cult of Sol Invictus was a latecomer to the classical world and did not achieve widespread appeal until the third century CE, when it received imperial patronage. Beard et al describe the cult of Sol Invictus in ancient Rome thus:

“In AD 274 the emperor Aurelian dedicated a great temple to the Sun (Sol) which was famed in antiquity for the richness of the offerings and dedications it contained … The cult of the Sun can have clear associations with eastern religions: the full title of the God Elagabalus was, in fact, Sol Invictus Elagabalus – Invincible Sun Elagabalus; and here it is often assumed that the particular form of the cult derived from the cult of Ba’al at Palmyra in Syria, after Aurelian’s successful campaign there … At the same time, however, its significance had Roman roots too. So, for example, a regular sacrifice to Sol is marked on 9 August of several Augustan calendars; and there had been a longstanding identification in both the Greek and Roman worlds of the God Apollo with Sol (or Greek Helios) … Besides, the imagery of the God – at least on the few contemporary coins on which it is shown – is strongly Graeco-Roman, rather than oriental (contrast the explicit eastern imagery attached to Elagabalus’ cult) and the priesthood founded to serve the cult was given the very Roman title of ‘pontifices of the Sun’ [M Beard et al, Religions of Rome: Volume 1 at 259].”

A number of Roman emperors are known to have particularly revered the Sun. The rising popularity of the cult coincided with a decline in that of the imperial cult and it is possible that some members of the third and fourth century Roman elite may have aspired for it to become a sort of “universal solar cult consecrating the religious unity of the Roman world”: R Turcan, The Gods of Ancient Rome at 142. It is also arguable that the cult of the Sun was, for some Romans at least, quasi-monotheistic – Macrobius portrays one of the leading Pagans of the fourth century, Praetextatus, as stating that "the supreme God, of whom all the others are aspects, is the Sun": cited in J Rüpke, A Companion to Roman Religion at 114.** However, the cult of the Sun was still very much a polytheistic phenomenon, as Rüpke explains in his summation of the rise of Sol Invictus in ancient Rome:

“… in the years after [Emperor] Gallienus’ death in 267, a series of strong and efficient emperors managed to stabilise the Roman empire … Foremost among them was Aurelian. Much more than his predecessors he laid emphasis on the fact that a God had invested him as emperor. After his victory over Palmyra in the summer of 273 he established the cult of Sol Invictus (Invincible Sun) in Rome. The God received his own magnificent temple, the templum Solis, and the priesthoods were restructured in order to give the priestly college of Sol a special rank … This cult had an air of monotheism, insofar as there was a central God, but it did not exclude the veneration of other Gods. It was new, but remained within the framework of traditional religious practice and could happily co-exist with the older cults … the worship of Sol was one of the key cults in the fourth century … The [polytheistic] emperor Julian (361-3 CE) ... was especially devoted to the Sun and viewed him as the supreme God … [J Rüpke, A Companion to Roman Religion at 102-114]”.

I discuss the rituals we might engage in for a solar oriented Christmas in more depth in my post A Pagan Christmas in High Summer.*** In the meantime I have put together this visual tribute to the Invincible Sun – may he look favourably upon us.

Taken from the Roman Forum, part of Saturn's temple on right. Source: romanpagan.blogspot.com

Io Saturnalia!

Saturnalia falls on 17 December (and can be celebrated up to the 23rd*) and I can feel the fever coming on. Almost instinctively, most Westerners know how to celebrate it - probably because many of its customs were incorporated into the celebration of Christmas. Traditionally it is a festival held in honour of Saturn, who is associated with agricultural bounteousness and a mythological golden age of plenty. More generally it is a time of merry making, disrupting established rules and hierarchies (eg, by reversing social roles - in my home we role swap on Saturnalia; I usually pretend to be the cat), game playing (dice was most popular in ancient times), parties, feasting, drinking, relaxation and gift giving.** I wanted to find some good Saturnalian images to help bring the mood on. Here follows some of my favourites (which I couldn't resist annotating:):

Etruscan dancers from the tomb of the Triclinium in the Necropolis of Monterozzi, c. 470 BCE

 Pompeii banquet scene from the Casa dei Casti Amanti, 1st century CE

Temple of Saturn, Roman Forum. Source: romanpagan.blogspot.com

"Happy Arcadia" by Makovsky, circa 1890

"A Roman Dance" by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 19th century CE

Illustration by Norman Lindsay (1922), of the Satyricon

"Roman Feast" by Tancredi Scarpelli, early 20th century CE

"Allegorical Scene" by Makovsky, late 19th century CE

"Saturnus" by Polidoro da Caravaggio, 16th century CE

A note on offerings - as we have no temples of Saturn in which to make offerings there is no hard and fast rule as to how to honour Saturn appropriately during Saturnalia, except to say that it is not necessary to cover one's head during ritual offerings. Getting in the festive spirit is surely one of the best ways to honour Saturn. As to the nature of ritual offerings, Saturn is an agricultural God so agricultural offerings (such as olive oil) may be especially appropriate. Macrobius suggested that Saturn may have once looked favourably upon human sacrifice therefore human proxies, such as gingerbread men, may be especially suitable offerings (note that actual human sacrifice is definitely not a feature of the Roman way to the Gods). In my household I light a beautiful Christmas candle in Saturn's honour on a large plate or tray on my balcony (as a kind of temporary shrine) and then place shortbread men on the plate/tray before the candle. However, I'm sure there are many other valid ways to honour Saturn during Saturnalia.

* Thus Saturnalia kicks off on the 17th and may continue for a week until 23 December.
**Beard et al, Religions of Rome: Volume 2 at 124-126.

Written by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at neo polytheist and romanpagan.wordpress.com