Saturnalia institutus festus dies. I Saturnali in Livio: cronologia, rituali, testo

The article discusses three mentions of the Saturnalia in Livy’s ab urbe condita. The three passages provide information about the institution of the festival in 497 BC and its reform at the beginning of the Hannibalic war, and a strange reference to the “first day” of the Saturnalia in 202 BC, when the festival lasted only one day. The passages raise problems concerning both chronology and text, that are discussed. Moreover, Livy’s description of the reform in 218/217 BC gives important details about the rituals and worship of Saturn and some foreign influences on it, coming from Greece and Carthage.