festival
Saturnalia
also: Saturnalia
The Roman winter festival of Saturn, opening 17 December and marked by feasting, gift-giving, and licence; Cicero stormed Pindenissus on its first morning and auctioned the spoils on its third day in 51 BC.
Reading notes
- Ad Atticum 5.20 §1 On the morning of the Saturnalia the people of Pindenissus surrendered themselves to me
The Saturnalia, the Roman festival of Saturn opening 17 December 51 BC, supplies the date of Cicero's one military triumph: the surrender of the besieged hill-town of Pindenissus. The coincidence of the merry festival with the grim siege gives the section its irony.
- Ad Atticum 13.52 §1 the second day of the Saturnalia
The Saturnalia, the midwinter festival of Saturn beginning 17 December, marked by feasting, gift-giving, and a loosening of social rank; by Cicero's day it ran several days. Caesar's descent on the coast falls on its second and third days (18-19 December 45 BC).