| Bacchanalian |
Shopping Bacchanalia |
Information AboutBacchanalian |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT BACCHANALIA | |
| ancient roman festivals | |
| march observances | |
| dionysus | |
| group sex | |
| mystery religions | |
|
Livy informs us that the rapid spread of the cult, which he claims indulged in all kinds of crimes and political conspiracies at its nocturnal meetings, led in 186 BC to a decree of the Senate —the so-called Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus, inscribed on a bronze tablet discovered in Apulia in Southern Italy ( 1640 ), now at the Imperial Museum of Vienna —by which the Bacchanalia were prohibited throughout all Italy except in certain special cases which must be approved specifically by the Senate. In spite of the severe punishment inflicted on those found in violation of this decree (Livy claims there were more executions than imprisonment), the Bacchanalia survived in Southern Italy long past the repression. Modern scholars hold Livy's account in doubt and believe that the Senate acted against the Bacchants for one or more of three reasons. First, because women occupied leadership positions in the cult (contrary to traditional Roman family values). Second, because slaves and the poor were the cult's members and were planning to overthrow the class system. Or third, according to a theory proposed by Erich Gruen , as a display of the Senate's supreme power to the Italian allies as well as competitors within the Roman political system, such as individual victorious generals whose popularity made them a threat to the senate's collective authority. The term has since been extended to refer to any drunken revelry. Bacchanalia is also an annual party at Rice University thrown by Brown College. It involves masses of people dressing up in togas and usually involves various forms of debauchery. One of the best-known melodies from Camille Saint-Saëns 's 1877 Opera '' Samson And Delilah (opera) '' is the ''Bacchanalia.'' SEE ALSO
REFERENCES that gives some insight as to what was involved in a Bacchanalian rite. EXTERNAL LINKS |
|
|