Who knew: Mardi Gras and the Romans!

Since this Tuesday is Fat Tuesday, I figured some Mardi Gras history would be fun. When Rome embraced Christianity, they decided to embrace some pagan traditions instead of abolishing them all. One of the traditions was a circus-like festival called Lupercalia. The Roman Christians put a “Christian twist” to this festival by making it into a time of feasting and fun before the Lenten Period. This celebration eventually spread to many other nations, and then came to America in 1699. It is now called Mardi Gras because that literally translates into Fat Tuesday, which is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. This Wednesday begins Lent. So Fat Tuesday is for feasting because the next day is for fasting. Here is a link for the full history of it: http://www.novareinna.com/festive/mardi.html.