Unwrapped: Christmas Roots, from Pagan Rome to Old England

21st Century Wire says…

Beyond the biblical roots of Christmas are the rich pagan traditions of Nordic Europe and Rome. From here, we can begin to discover where modern western Christmas festivities come from.

According to Werner Keller’s book The Bible as History, the Christmas holiday made its first debut in Justinian Rome:

“December 25 is referred to in documents as Christmas Day in A.D. 324 for the first time. Under the Roman emperor Justinian [A.D. 527-565] it was recognized as an official holiday. An old Roman festival played a a major part in the choice of this particular day. December 25 in ancient Rome was the ‘Dies Natali Invictus,’ ‘the birthday of the unconquered,’ the day of the winter solstice and at the same time, in Rome, the last day of the Saturnalia, which had long since degenerated into a week of unbridled carnival…” (p. 331)

From there, the story gets extremely interesting, and surprising…

READ MORE ANCIENT HISTORY NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Ancient History Files

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