One festival did not blur the line between the sacred and the profane; in the case of Carnival, there was no doubt that the profane ruled. Carnival, with its culmination on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, marked the last days of celebration before the fasting and solemnity of Lent. Dressed in costume or wearing a mask, revelers, under the cloak of anonymity, jeered at fellow merrymakers, played tricks, mocked the civil and religious elite, and easily masterminded clandestine romantic rendezvous. Carnival encouraged, albeit momentarily, a world turned upside down, as it ostensibly allowed the humble average citizen "to rule." In many towns, a life-size papier-mâché (or wooden) individual, "Juan Carnival," ruled the day until just before the advent of Lent. He was prosecuted in a mock public trial in the main square, charged with scandalous living, and executed (set aflame). With his "death," Lent began and social and hierarchical relations returned to normal. Carnival represented not only licentiousness but freedom as women and men cross-dressed and, for one evening, festively changed roles. This rowdy fiesta also allowed popular expression on political issues, even potentially volatile ones, all under the guise of humor and satire. It certainly allowed administrators to gauge the political mood of their subjects. It additionally served as a safety valve, allowing the citizenry to vent anger at the government in a prescribed manner. Officials did fear that carnival madness, anonymity, and drinking would lead to more serious threats to the established order through revolt. Although no large-scale rebellions were linked directly to Carnival, eighteenth-century officials banned the celebration in many communities. In Mexico City, they prohibited Indian carnival, which included the tradition of the huehues or old men (actually young men playing old men) who had license to roam the streets and make merry on not-so-innocent bystanders. Eighteenth-century officials, however, did not suspend the elite Carnival, which consisted of elaborate private masked balls.