Sol Invictus, the unconquered sun, was a Syrian god established as a supreme deity by Aurelian in the late 3rd century. The Brumalia celebrated the return of the sun after the winter solstice. According to Lesley Adkins and Roy Adkins in their Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome: "It has been suggested that the cult of the sun influenced the east-west orientation of burials, so that the dead arose to face the rising sun on the day of resurrection. It is more certain that the sun's birthday (25 December: the midwinter solstice in the Julian calendar) could not be suppressed by Christianity, and so the festival was made out to be the birthday of Christ instead."
Sol Invictus
Higgledy-Piggledy
Sol the Invincible,
Syrian deity
Brought to the West,
Shows a remarkable
Quasi-coincidence...
Was it from him that Christ's
Birthday was wrest?