jester's cap
Holiday Pranks of Senex Caecilius

The celebration of the Saturnalia includes the selection of a princeps Saturnalicius, a mock king who presides over the festivities in each household. His command is law, whether to dance naked, to sing, to suffer a dunking in icy water, or to lift up a flute girl.

The Lord of Misrule is likely the medieval heir of the office held by the princeps Saturnalicius during Roman times. He was appointed to be in charge of Christmas revelries, called the Feast of Fools (festum fatuorum), which often included drunkenness and wild partying, in the pagan tradition of Saturnalia.

Here are a few innocent activities for you to choose.

  • Try a tongue twister in Latin.
  • Kiss a pig on the snout.
  • Sing a song in karaoke style.
  • Play a game of "Master, May I?"
  • Flirt with a flute player of your choice.
  • Tell a joke of the knock, knock variety.
  • Practice a prank as the princeps.
  • Recite a poem.

    • Here are a few sites about jokes and pranks in ancient Rome.

  • A collection of tongue twisters in Latin contains some written by classical authors as well as more contemporary ones.
  • An article about Roman jokes in Wikipedia provides a few from classical authors.
  • A website about daily life in the time of the emperor Hadrian contains some puns and other jokes.
  • An entry in a blog by Mary Beard entitled What Made the Romans Laugh? cites examples from classical authors.
  • An archive of PDF files provides extensive examples of Ioci Antiqvi compiled by Michael Hendry.

    • [ return to the Saturnalia ]