If Jesus was really born on 25th December, what were all those shepherds doing out in the fields? [1] Spring has always been the traditional season for lambing, although in the ancient world, autumn was also good for pasture. In either case, dark, grassless December was a time for preserving the flocks in fold or barn. The answer seems to be that the early Church moved the date of their Founder’s Birthday to coincide with the Birthday of another god, Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun. And the man responsible for that was one of the bravest and most able men who has ever lived. He was the Emperor Aurelian (270-275),[2] and is almost unremembered today.
When Aurelian came to the throne, the Roman Empire seemed finished as a going concern. In the East, Queen Zenobia had snatched away Egypt and Syria. In the West, other rivals had broken off Britain, Gaul and Spain. The remining areas suffered from the ravages of inflation, plague and invasion. Yet within five short years his brilliant leadership had not only reunited the entire Empire; he had set in progress a series of economic and military reforms which laid the foundations for its survival for centuries to come. The ultimate never-say-die man, if you like.
Aurelian believed that the restored Oecumene should ultimately have a single figure, a symbol of its unconquerable spirit. He revived the cult of Sol Invictus,[3] whose practices conveniently bled into those of Mithraism,[4] so popular with the army of the time. On 25th December 274, at Rome, the Emperor initiated the first festival of Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, as proof that apparently dead Empire and risen again, to triumph over its enemies. Later Christian Emperors, such as Constantine, never abandoned the day, slowly allowing it to become incorporated into the rites and eschatology of their new Church.
So, whatever your personal faith, this Christmas Day will see you remember the ghost of a great man, and his greatest achievement, living on in ever-so-slightly disguised form.
[1] Luke Chap. 2 et seq
[2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurelian
[3]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Invictus
[4]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithraism
#christianity #christmas #paganism #yuletide #sol invictus #roman empire
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