A famous Italian proverb says "A Carnevale ogni scherzo vale!" which means ‘at Carnival, anything goes!’, instead the Romans used the expression "Semel in anno licet insanire" because as much today as in the past times people has always wanted to live out of the ordinary boating, having fun and escape the everyday life even if for a few hours.
But have you ever asked yourself about the reasons of this feast? Have you ever thought about the fascination of a mask whose purpose is not to cover but to create a new identity?
Probably, the Carnival derives from the ancient Roman Saturnalia, a long period of popular feasts during which the normal social order was overturned, the slaves were temporarily free and they became masters of themselves.
During the Romans Saturnalia was elected a "princeps", who temporarily gained power and who represented a mockery of the aristocracy. The “princeps” wore a strange and colorful mask: he embodied the infernal god, Saturn or Pluto, who was the guardian of the dead's souls but also the keeper of fields and harvest. It was common thinking that these deities came out of the abyss, wandering in parade during winter time and for that reason they need to be satisfy with gifts and feasts in their honor, but also persuaded to came back in the other world from where they could had favored the summer's harvest.
Etymologically, the word Carnival derives from the latin "carnem levare" which literally means "take off, remove the meat". Pursuant to the Christian dogma, the so called Carnival Time, is a preparation to Lent, which presuppose the abstinence from any kind of meat.