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THE 25 th OF DECEMBER: JESUS CHRIST'S BIRTHDAY ? birthday was celebrated in the Roman religion to comme_ morate a founding date or birth. Temples all had their birthdays which were,if the temple was of particular importan_ ce,even mentioned in the footnotes of calenders. Rome itself celebrated its birthday on the 21st of April. One's birthday was always celebrated by making a sacrifice to one's genius;in imperial times,the emperor's birthday was a public holiday. The birthday of some divinities whose "birth" was significant, such as those of the Sun Undefeated and of Mithras,was also celebrated. The latter god's birthday was celebrated on the 25th of December and represented an important solstitial occasion, subsequently inherited as the birthday of Christ. Christmas was celebrated from the 4th century onwards ... A statement taken from volume XIII of the "Grande Enciclopedia" published by the Istituto Geografico De Agostini of Novara in 1974
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