What does “Reveille” mean and when was the first in history

By Niki Bakoulis

Did you read that the government called for revelation with just a few people, these Christmas, as stated by the government spokesperson Stelios Petsas. I’m sorry if I’m going to ruin the story for you, but we didn’t have a New Year’s Eve party this year anyway, according to the original definition of the word, which we ‘borrowed’ from French, where the ‘phenomenon’ began.

The word ‘réveillon’ is derived from ‘réveiller,’ which means ‘to wake up,’ and comes from the Latin ‘vigilo,’ meaning ‘to keep watch’ or ‘to remain alert.’ This ‘metaphor’ served to describe what took place at Christmas and the New Year's Day. That is, those lavish banquets with their many courses (time-consuming to prepare and made with expensive ingredients) that never seemed to end, so the guests (family members and/or friends—the more, the merrier) stayed awake well past midnight. Given that the curfew in Greece, ‘kicks off’ from 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. and inevitably ‘erases’ what you knew as New Year’s Eve. It does, however, come close to what was defined as “réveillon” when the word first emerged.

As reported by the CNRTL, The term first appeared in the 19th century, in a text (Loti, Journal, 1878–81, p. 207) in which someone recounted that ‘we eagerly await midnight, in the company of a few friends, sitting in front of mugs of hot chocolate and brioche. ’A heartfelt little New Year’s Eve celebration at the boarding school.”.

Back then, there was no electricity, so people did not stay up all night—‘except on Christmas Eve, in order to take part in the celebrations’—as scholars argue. There was a church service that ended after midnight (Christmas essentially ‘began’ with the singing of the ‘Midnight, Christians‘ -see. Silent Night). And when they returned home, the families would eat the meals they had been preparing for days, until dawn.

This is how food came to take center stage in the story, with the dishes varying from family to family (depending on each family’s means). They usually included meat pies, meatballs in sauce, pork trotters, and potatoes, while dessert consisted of homemade donuts with jam. Everything was cooked over the course of several days.

When the aristocracy ‘took it up,’ they turned it into a ‘lavish’ dinner, introduced it to the palaces of other countries, and even ‘established’ rules. For example, that the evening begins with aperitif: with finger food, accompanied by champagne. Next comes the main meal, which consists of several courses served in a specific order (appetizers, main course with side dishes, cheeses, and finally dessert—not just any dessert, but the Yule log).

It should also be noted that dinner is ‘washed down’ with various types of wine from different regions, depending on the dishes and what pairs well with them. After the ‘strong’ drinks, coffee, nuts, chocolates, and other delicacies follow, depending on what each region produces. Etiquette applies not only to the réveillon de Noël (Christmas Eve dinner) but also to the réveillon de Nouvel An (New Year’s Eve dinner), which, in contrast to the former, focuses more on friends than on relatives. Obviously, the more it spread, the more it adapted to the customs, traditions, and cuisines of each country.

Starting in the 1960s, the number of people attending Christmas services in churches began to decline, as the holiday became more commercial—rather than sacred. That’s also when the tradition of exchanging gifts began, and the timing of the celebration shifted from after midnight to a gathering before midnight, whenever that might be.