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Ajubilee is often used to refer to the celebration of a particularanniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term comes from theHebrew Bible (see, "Old Testament"), initially concerning a recurring religious observance involving a set number of years, that notably involved freeing of debt slaves.Emperors of ancient Rome customarily marked anniversaries of their rule with celebrations, although they did not use the term "jubilee." Nonetheless, the term came into English usage from the Bible, together with customary celebration of a reign, and is now often used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of monarchs after a milestone number of years have passed.
The jubilee (Hebrew:יובלyovel) year (every 50th year) and thesabbatical year (every seventh year) are Biblical commandments concerning ownership of land and slaves. The laws concerning the sabbatical year are still observed by many religious Jews in theState of Israel,[citation needed] while the jubilee has not been observed for many centuries, if at all (before the 'peshitto' era of the Vulgate-inspired bible). According to theHebrew Bible, every seventh year farmers in the land of Israel are commanded to let their land lie fallow, and slaves were freed. The celebration of the jubilee is the fiftieth year, that is, the year after seven sabbatical cycles. Jubilee was to recognize that by tradition all property belongs to God, not the individual Jew. For the Jew, returning of possessions to God was/is a religious vow or dedication.
InRoman Catholic tradition, a jubilee is a year ofpenance instituted every 50 or 25 years.[1]
Following the model ofAugustus, theRomanemperors typically celebrated major jubilees on the 10th years of their reigns. Thedecennalia marked the 10th year, thevicennalia the 20th, and—in the case ofConstantine the Great—thetricennalia the 30th. Smaller festivals sometimes occurred on the 5th years between these. For modern monarchs, the dates are typically connected withprecious metals andgemstones:
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