Saturn was especially celebrated during the festival ofSaturnalia each December, perhaps the most famous of theRoman festivals, a time of feasting, role reversals, free speech, gift-giving and revelry. TheTemple of Saturn in theRoman Forum housed the state treasury and archives (aerarium) of theRoman Republic and the earlyRoman Empire. The planetSaturn and the day of the weekSaturday are both named after and were associated with him.
The Roman land preserved the remembrance of a very remote time during which Saturn andJanus reigned on the site of the city before its foundation: the Capitol was calledmons Saturnius.[4] The Romans identified Saturn with the GreekCronus, whose myths were adapted forLatin literature andRoman art. In particular, Cronus's role in the genealogy of the Greek gods was transferred to Saturn. As early asAndronicus(3rd century BC),Jupiter was called the son of Saturn.[5]
Saturn had two mistresses who represented different aspects of the god. The name of his wife,Ops, the Roman equivalent of GreekRhea, means "wealth, abundance, resources."[6] The association with Ops is considered a later development, however, as this goddess was originally paired withConsus.[7](p 244) Earlier was Saturn's association withLua ("destruction, dissolution, loosening"), a goddess who received the bloodied weapons of enemies destroyed in war.[8]
Under Saturn's rule, humans enjoyed the spontaneous bounty of the earth without labour in the "Golden Age" described byHesiod andOvid. He became known as the god of time.
By Saturn they seek to represent that power which maintains the cyclic course of times and seasons. This is the sense that the Greek name of that god bears, for he is calledCronus, which is the same asChronos orTime. Saturn for his part got his name because he was "sated" with years; the story that he regularly devoured his own children is explained by the fact that time devours the courses of the seasons, and gorges itself "insatiably" on the years that are past. Saturn was enchained byJupiter to ensure that his circuits did not get out of control, and to constrain him with the bonds of the stars.
According toVarro,[10] Saturn's name was derived fromsatus, meaning "sowing". Even though this etymology is problematic from the viewpoint of modern linguistics (for, while historically-motivated vowel length alternations do occur in Latin roots, the longā inSāturnus in particular remains unexplained with this etymology, and also because of theepigraphically attested formSaeturnus),[11] nevertheless it does reflect an original feature of the god.[12](p 144) Perhaps a more probable etymology connects the name with the Etruscan godSatre and placenames such asSatria, an ancient town of Latium, andSaturae palus, a marsh also in Latium. This root may be related to Latinphytonymsatureia.[13](Likesatus, however,satureia,Saturae palus, and probably alsoSatria, as indeed the apparently closely relatedSatricum, all also have a shorta in the first syllable vs. the longā ofSāturnus.)
Another epithet, variablySterculius,Stercutus, andSterces, referred to his agricultural functions;[14](1.7.25)this derives fromstercus, "dung" or "manure", referring to re‑emergence from death to life.[15]Farming was important to Roman identity, and Saturn was a part of archaic Roman religion and ethnic identity. His name appears in the ancient hymn of theSalian priests,[16]and his temple was the oldest known in the records of thepontiffs.
Quintus Lucilius Balbus gives a separate etymology inCicero'sDe Natura Deorum.[9] In this interpretation, the agricultural aspect of Saturn would be secondary to his primary relation with time and seasons. Since 'Time consumes all things',Balbus asserts that the nameSaturn comes from the Latin wordsatis; Saturn being ananthropomorphic representation ofTime, which is filled, or satiated, by all things or all generations. Since farming is so closely linked toseasons and therefore an understanding of the cyclical passage of time, it follows that agriculture would then be associated with the deity Saturn.
The temple of Saturn was located at the base of theCapitoline Hill, according to a tradition recorded byVarro[17] formerly known asSaturnius Mons, and a row of columns from the last rebuilding of the temple still stands.[6] The temple was consecrated in 497 BC but thearea Saturni was built by kingTullus Hostilius as confirmed by archaeological studies conducted by E. Gjerstad.[18] It housed the state treasury (aerarium) throughout Roman history.
The position of Saturn's festival in theRoman calendar led to his association with concepts of time, especially the temporal transition of theNew Year. In the Greek tradition, Kronos was sometimes conflated withChronos, "Time," and his devouring of his children taken as an allegory for the passing of generations. As such, the Roman Saturn had similar associations. The sickle or scythe ofFather Time is a remnant of the agricultural implement of Cronus-Saturn, and his aged appearance represents the waning of the old year with the birth of the new, in antiquity sometimes embodied byAion. Inlate antiquity, Saturn issyncretized with a number of deities, and begins to be depicted as winged, as isKairos, "Timing, Right Time".[19]
The figure of Saturn is one of the most complex in Roman religion.Dumézil refrained from discussing Saturn in his work on Roman religion on the grounds of insufficient knowledge.[7] Conversely, however, his followerDominique Briquel has attempted a thorough interpretation of Saturn utilisingDumézil's three-functional theory of Indo-European religion, taking the ancient testimonies and the works of A. Brelich and G. Piccaluga as his basis.[12][20]
The main difficulty scholars encounter in studying Saturn lies in determining how much is original to his (Roman) character and how much the product of later hellenising influences. Moreover, some features of the god may be common to Cronus but are nonetheless very ancient and can be considered proper to the Roman god, whereas others are certainly later and arrived after 217 BCE, the year in which the Greek customs of theKronia were introduced into the Saturnalia.[12](p 142 ff)
Among the features which are definitely authentic of the Roman god, Briquel identifies:
the time of his festival in the calendar, which corresponds to the date of the consecration of his temple (the Greek Cronia on the other hand took place in June–July);
the location of his cult on the Capitol, which goes back to remote times.[21]
These three elements in Briquel's view indicate that Saturn is a sovereign god. The god's strict relationship with the cults of the Capitoline Hill and in particular with Jupiter are highlighted by the legends concerning the refusal of godsIuventas andTerminus to leave their abode in the shrines on the Capitol when the temple of Jupiter was to be built. These two deities correspond to the helper gods of the sovereign in Vedic religion (Briquel[12] refers toDhritarashtra andVidura, the figures of theMahabharata) and to theCyclopes andHecatoncheires inHesiod. Whereas the helper gods belong to the second divine generation they become active only at the level of the third in each of the three instances of India, Greece and Rome, where they become a sort of continuation of Jupiter.[c])
Dumézil postulated a split of the figure of the sovereign god in Indoeuropean religion, which is embodied by Vedic godsVaruna andMitra.[22] Of the two, the first one shows the aspect of the magic, uncanny, awe inspiring power of creation and destruction, while the second shows the reassuring aspect of guarantor of the legal order in organised social life. Whereas in Jupiter these double features have coalesced, Briquel[12] sees Saturn as showing the characters of a sovereign god of theVarunian type. His nature becomes evident in his mastership over the annual time of crisis around the winter solstice, epitomised in the power of subverting normal codified social order and its rules, which is apparent in the festival of theSaturnalia, in the mastership of annual fertility and renewal, in the power of annihilation present in his paredra (= divine associate/companion deity) Lua, in the fact that he is the god of a timeless era of abundance and bounty before time, which he reinstates at the time of the yearly crisis of the winter solstice.
In Roman and Etruscan reckoning Saturn is a wielder of lightning; no other agricultural god (in the sense of specialized human activity) is one.[23][d] Hence the mastership he has on agriculture and wealth cannot be that of a god of the third function, i.e. of production, wealth, and pleasure, but it stems from his magical lordship over creation and destruction. Although these features are to be found in Greek god Cronus as well, it appears that those features were proper to Roman Saturn's most ancient aspects, such as his presence on the Capitol and his association with Jupiter, who in the stories of the arrival of thePelasgians in the land of theSicels[24][14](1.7.27–31) and that of theArgei orders human sacrifices to him.[25]
Briquel concludes that Saturn was a sovereign god of a time that the Romans perceived as no longer actual, that of the legendary origins of the world, before civilization.[12](p 155)
Sacrifices to Saturn were performed according to "Greek rite" (ritus graecus), with the head uncovered, in contrast to those of other major Roman deities, which were performedcapite velato, "with the head covered." Saturn himself, however, was represented as veiled (involutus), as for example in a wall painting fromPompeii that shows him holding a sickle and covered with a white veil. This feature is in complete accord with the character of a sovereign god of the Varunian type and is common with German godOdin. Briquel remarksServius had already seen that the choice of the Greek rite was due to the fact that the god himself is imagined and represented as veiled, thence his sacrifice cannot be carried out by a veiled man: This is an instance of the reversal of the current order of things typical of the nature of the deity as appears in its festival.[26]Plutarch writes his figure is veiled because he is the father of truth.[27]
Pliny notes that the cult statue of Saturn was filled with oil; the exact meaning of this is unclear.[28] Its feet were bound with wool, which was removed only during the Saturnalia.[14](1.8.5) The fact that the statue was filled with oil and the feet were bound with wool may relate back to the myth of "The Castration of Uranus". In this myth Rhea gives Cronus a rock to eat in Zeus's stead, thus tricking Cronus. Although mastership of knots is a feature of Greek origin[citation needed] it is also typical of the Varunian sovereign figure, as apparent e.g. in Odin. Once Zeus was victorious over Cronus, he sets this stone up at Delphi and constantly it is anointed with oil and strands of unwoven wool are placed on it.[29] The stone wore a red cloak,[30] and was brought out of the temple to take part inritual processions[31] andlectisternia, banquets at which images of the gods were arranged as guests on couches.[6] All these ceremonial details identify a sovereign figure.
Little evidence exists in Italy for the cult of Saturn outside Rome, but his name resembles that of the Etruscan godSatres.[e] The potential cruelty of Saturn was enhanced by his identification withCronus, known for devouring his own children. He was thus used in translation when referring to gods from other cultures the Romans perceived as severe; he was equated with the Carthaginian godBaal Hammon, to whom children were sacrificed, and toYahweh, whoseSabbath was referred to asSaturni dies, "Saturn's day," in a poem byTibullus, who wrote during the reign ofAugustus; eventually this gave rise to the word "Saturday" in English.[6] The identification with Ba'al Hammon later gave rise to the African Saturn, a cult that enjoyed great popularity until the 4th century. Besides being a popular cult it also had the character of amystery religion and required child sacrifices. It is also considered as inclining to monotheism.[32] In the ceremony of initiation themyste (initiate) "intrat sub iugum" ("enters beneath the yoke"), a ritual that Leglay compares to the Romantigillum sororium.[32](pp 385–386) Even though their origin and theology are completely different the Italic and the African god are both sovereign and master over time and death, a fact that has permitted their association. However, the African Saturn is not directly derived from the Italic god, but rather from his Greek counterpart, Cronus.
Saturn is associated with a major religious festival in the Roman calendar,Saturnalia. Saturnalia celebrated the harvest and sowing, and ran from December 17–23. During Saturnalia, the social restrictions of Rome were relaxed. The figure of Saturn, kept during the year with its legs bound in wool, was released from its bindings for the period of the festival.[14](1.8.5) The revelries of Saturnalia were supposed to reflect the conditions of the lost "Golden Age" before the rule of Saturn was overthrown, not all of them desirable, except as a temporary relief from civilized constraint. The Greek equivalent was theKronia.[33]
Macrobius(5th century CE) presents an interpretation of the Saturnalia as a festival of light leading to thewinter solstice.[34][14](1.1.8–9) The renewal of light and the coming of the new year was celebrated in the laterRoman Empire at theDies Natalis ofSol Invictus, the "Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun," on December 25.[35]
Relief held by theLouvre thought to depict the veiled throne of Saturn, either a Roman work of the 1st century CE or a Renaissance copy
It was customary for the Romans to represent divine figures as kings ofLatium at the time of their legendary origins. Macrobius states explicitly that the Roman legend of Janus and Saturn is an affabulation, as the true meaning of religious beliefs cannot be openly expressed.[14](1.7.18) In the myth[14](1.9.-)[36] Saturn was the original andautochthonous ruler of theCapitolium, which had thus been called theMons Saturnius in older times and on which once stood the town ofSaturnia.[14](1.7.27, 1.10.4)[37]He was sometimes regarded as the first king ofLatium or even the whole of Italy.[38](p 138–139) At the same time, there was a tradition that Saturn had been an immigrant god, received byJanus after he was usurped by his son Jupiter and expelled from Greece.[f]In Versnel's view his contradictions – a foreigner with one of Rome's oldest sanctuaries, and a god of liberation who is kept in fetters most of the year – indicate Saturn's capacity for confounding social distinctions.[38](pp 139, 142–143)
The Golden Age of Saturn's reign in Roman mythology differed from the Greek tradition. He arrived in Italy "dethroned and fugitive,"[38](p 143) but brought agriculture and civilization for which he was rewarded by Janus with a share of the kingdom, becoming himself king. As the Augustan poetVirgil described it, "He gathered together the unruly race" offauns andnymphs "scattered over mountain heights, and gave them laws ... . Under his reign were the golden ages men tell of: in such perfect peace he ruled the nations."[39] He was considered the ancestor of the Latin nation as he fatheredPicus, the first king of Latium, who married Janus's daughterCanens and in his turn fatheredFaunus.
But Saturn also had a less benevolent aspect, as indicated by the blood shed in his honor during gladiatorialmunera. His consort in archaic Roman tradition wasLua, sometimes calledLua Saturni ("Saturn's Lua") and identified with Lua Mater, "Mother Destruction," a goddess in whose honor the weapons of enemies killed in war were burned, perhaps as expiation.[6] Versnel, however, proposed thatLua Saturni should not be identified withLua Mater, but rather refers to "loosening"; she thus represents the liberating function of Saturn.[38](p 144)
Saturn'schthonic nature connected him to the underworld and its rulerDis Pater, the Roman equivalent of GreekPlouton (Pluto in Latin) who was also a god of hidden wealth.[g]In 3rd-century AD sources and later, Saturn is recorded as receivinggladiatorial offerings(munera) during or near the Saturnalia.[41][38](p 144–145)These gladiator combats, ten days in all throughout December, were presented by thequaestors and sponsored with funds from the treasury of Saturn.[h]
The practice of gladiatorialmunera was criticized byChristian apologists as a form of human sacrifice.[6][38](p 146) Although there is no evidence of this practice during theRepublican era, the offering of gladiators led to later theorizing that the primeval Saturn had demanded human victims.Macrobius says that Dis Pater was placated with human heads and Saturn with sacrificial victims consisting of men (virorumvictimis).[14](1.7.31)[38](p 146) The figurines that were exchanged as gifts(sigillaria) during the Saturnalia may have represented token substitutes.[43][i][14](1.10.24)
In 104 BCE, theplebeian tribuneLucius Appuleius Saturninus issued adenarius depicting Saturn driving a four-horse chariot(quadriga), a vehicle associated with rulers,triumphing generals, andsun gods. Saturninus was apopularist politician who had proposed reduced-price grain distribution to the poor of Rome. The head of thegoddess Roma appears on the obverse. The Saturnian imagery played on the tribune's name and his intent to alter thesocial hierarchy to his advantage, by basing his political support on the common people (plebs) rather than the senatorial elite.[38](p 162)
^Saturnia Italia, et mons, qui nunc est Capitolinus, Saturnius appellabatur, quod in tutela Saturni esse existimantur. Saturnii quoque dicebantur, qui castrum in imo clivo Capitolino incolebant, ubi ara diacata ei deo ante bellum troianum videtur.[2]
^Iuventas shows a clear Varunian character in the liaison of Romulus with theiuvenes the young soldiers; Terminus has a Mitran character even though he shows Varunian traits in allowing the enlargement of the borders (propagatio finium): Briquel[12](p 134 n. 8.)
^Saturn's lightning bolts are those of wintertime.
^Eight days were subsidized from the Imperial treasury ( arca fisci ) and two mostly by the sponsoringmagistrate himself.[42]
^For other Roman practices that may represent substitutes for human sacrifice, seeArgei andoscilla, the latter of which were used also at theLatin Festival and theCompitalia.[44]
^B. Liou Gilles "Naissance de la ligue latine. Mythe et cult de fondation" inRevue belge de philologie et d' histoire74 1. pp. 73–97: 75.doi:10.3406/rbph.1996.4096. citing Festus[a] and Ovid.[b]
^Saturni filius, frg. 2 in the edition of Baehrens.
^abcdefg Mueller, Hans Friedrich (2010). "Saturn".Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome. Oxford University Press. p. 222.
^abDumézil, G. (1977) [1974].La religion romain archaïque (Italian translation ed.). Paris, FR / Milan, IT. part I, chap. 5, page 244–245.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^G. Dumézil (1968, 1959) "Lua Mater" inDéesses latines et mythes védiques Bruxelles pp. 98–115. Dumézil compared this Roman figure with Indian deityNírŗti.
^abLeglay, Marcel (1966).Saturn africain. Histoire BEFAR. Paris, FR: de Boccard.
^Hansen, William F. (2002).Ariadne's Thread: A guide to international tales found in classical literature. Ithaca, NY:Cornell University Press. p. 385.
^Chance, Jane (1994).Medieval Mythography: From Roman North Africa to the Cchool of Chartres, A.D. 433–1177.University Press of Florida. p. 71.
^Kaster, Robert A., ed. (2011).Macrobius: Saturnalia, Books 1–2.Loeb Classical Library. note on p. 16.
^abcdefghijk Versnel, H.S. (1994) [1993]. "Saturnus and the Saturnalia".Inconsistencies in Greek and Roman Religion: Transition and Reversal in Myth and Ritual. Brill.
^Pincherle, Mario; Volpi, Giuliana C. (1990).La civiltà minoica in Italia: Le città saturnie. Pisa, IT: Pacini.
^For instance,Ausonius.Eclogue. 23. andDe feriis Romanis. 33–37. See Versnel[38](pp 146 and 211–212) andWiedemann, Thomas E.J. (1995) [1992].Emperors and Gladiators. Routledge. p. 47.
^Salzman, Michele Renee (1990).On Roman Time: The codex-calendar of 354 and the rhythms of urban life in late antiquity.University of California Press. p. 186.
^Barton, Carlin A. (1993).The Sorrows of the Ancient Romans: The gladiator and the monster.Princeton University Press. p. 166.
^Fowler, W.W. (1908).The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic. London, UK. p. 272.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Georges Dumézil (1974)La religion romaine archaïque Paris Payot 2nd; Italian translation (expanded version)La religione romana arcaica Milano Rizzoli 1977. Edizione e traduzione a cura di Furio Jesi.
Dominique Briquel (1981) "Jupiter, Saturn et le Capitol. Essai de comparaison indoeuropéenne" inRevue de l' histoire des religions198 2. pp. 131–162.
Marcel Leglay (1966)Saturn africain. HistoireBEFAR Paris de Boccard.
H.S. Versnel (1993, 1994) "Saturnus and the Saturnalia", inInconsistencies in Greek and Roman Religion: Transition and Reversal in Myth and Ritual, Brill, pp. 144–145.
Guirand, Felix (Editor); Aldington, Richard (Translator); Ames, Delano (Translator); & Graves, Robert (Introduction).New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology.ISBN0-517-00404-6
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