The untold history of Christmas
Iconic Christmas symbols adorn shopping centers, town squares and homes as evergreen trees are lit and children write their letters to Santa Claus.
These traditions have been around for as long as anyone can remember, but when were they first formed? How did they become part of the celebration of Christ’s birth?
A modern Christmas is an amalgamation of Christian, Roman and pagan traditions that have continually changed over the centuries, explained Carlis White, professor of history at Slippery Rock University.
“The date for Christmas corresponds with a Roman holiday called Saturnalia,” White said. “This was a day they would allow the underclasses and even slaves to have some time off in celebration. It takes place in late December, whether it was specifically the 25th, I’m not sure.”
The holiday dates back to ancient times, to the early days of the Roman Republic.
“It was celebrated as a time when the masters actually served the servants,” he said. “It’s generally thought Saturnalia was picked as a time to celebrate Jesus’ birth because Christians identified with the servants.”
The Christianization of the Roman Empire and their celebrations did not happen overnight, with Christianity first appearing in Rome in the mid-first century A.D.
“Christianity is going to start impacting Roman society as early as 45 to 54,” White said, referring to the writings of Tacitus during the reign of Claudius.
“There’s a dispute that arises among the Jews who are living in the city of Rome over some Greek fellow named Christon,” White said, relating the story as Tacitus told it. “Whatever they were arguing about, the Romans couldn’t care less. But it got so heated, Claudius required the Jews to leave the city altogether.”
This banishment did not last long and was generally not considered to be too disruptive, he said.
The thinking today is that the Jews were not fighting about a man named Chrestos at all.
“It wasn’t some Greek fellow named Chrestos, it was an argument about someone with a Greek title, Christos,” White said.
As the Christian presence grew, its practice became increasingly accepted within the Roman Empire.
All that time, Rome was involved in wars and conquests in other lands such as modern day Germany, Spain and Britain. There the Romans encountered the Celtic Druids and Germanic tribes who supplied many of the other traditions celebrated today.
“The Romans encountered them (the Druids),” White said. “Julius Caesar talked a little more about them when he was in those territories. They (the Druids) were involved in spirits residing in things, which is why they were so into trees.”
Many of the northern cultures regarded trees, especially the evergreen, as a symbol for life that led to the tradition of the Christmas tree, so it cannot be specifically credited to the Druids.
“For the most part, everything I’ve heard concerning Christmas trees is that they get that from celebrations of northern tribes, Germanic tribes and possibly Druids,” White said. “Specifically evergreen trees because they don’t seem to die off in winter time. The fact that they stay alive becomes a symbol of life. We kind of think that’s where Christmas trees come from: a borrowing of pagan traditions.”
“A lot of different European nationalities will have some version of either Santa Claus or Saint Nicholas,” White said. “The earliest stories I know of regarding this Saint Nicholas character, he’s supposed to have heard that a king was being honored and he goes off to try to provide gifts like the wise men ... Then he leaves things for children wherever they’re born.”
Some stories add the possibility that Saint Nicholas was an early Christian saint who faced persecution at a time of Roman hostility toward the Christian church.
Was there ever a real Saint Nicholas?
“Well, who knows?” said White.
