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Line 22: − The view that Christmas is an "appropriation" of a pagan festival has a long history. It was popularized by German scholar Hermann Usener in the late 19th century.<ref>Usener's essay was published in 1889. His views are foreshadowed in two essays by P.E. Jablonski (1693-1757). (Hijmans, p. 584.)</ref> According to Usener, the Church placed Christmas on December 25 as a kind of marketing strategy to absorb pagan solstice festivals into Christianity.+
→Relationship to pagan festivals
==Relationship to pagan festivals==
==Relationship to pagan festivals==
In an essay published in 1889, German scholar Hermann Usener argued that Christmas is an "appropriation" of an earlier pagan festival.<ref>Usener's views are foreshadowed in two essays by P.E. Jablonski (1693-1757). (Hijmans, p. 584.)</ref> According to Usener, the Church placed Christmas on December 25 as a kind of marketing strategy to absorb pagan solstice festivals into Christianity.
The end of the year was a "holiday season" of varied celebration in pagan Rome, and it remains so in modern times. Saturnalia began on December 17 and lasted for three to five days. It was followed by ''Dies Natalis Solis Invicti'' on December 25 and Kalends on January 1 to January 4. Saturnalia was exclusive to Italy while Sol Invictus was associated with emperors [[Aurelian]] and [[Constantine]].
The end of the year was a "holiday season" of varied celebration in pagan Rome, and it remains so in modern times. Saturnalia began on December 17 and lasted for three to five days. It was followed by ''Dies Natalis Solis Invicti'' on December 25 and Kalends on January 1 to January 4. Saturnalia was exclusive to Italy while Sol Invictus was associated with emperors [[Aurelian]] and [[Constantine]].