Bacchanalia

The Bacchanalia (from Latin Bacchanalia ), the festivals of Bacchus in ancient Rome, were celebrations, many of which were celebrated by the Bacchantes Bacchantes and with the wildest exuberance.

The festival was celebrated BC since the 2nd century and found annually on March 16 and 17 at the Aventine Hill Rome.

Origin and sequence

The Roman Bacchanalia were not originally a Roman event; Rather Bacchus largely corresponds to the Greek wine god Dionysus and the Dionysian Bacchanalia, which mostly took place in March at the start of the new growing season.

The Romans of this period were characterized by strict moral ideas and therefore resisted all the more as the Greek culture took more and more influence on the Roman. The admission of foreign ideas was a corruption of morals and a violation of the Roman national pride for them. Rome was offended and felt powerless against the ever-increasing dependence on the Greek culture. This was contemptuous remarks of the Greek population in the Roman Empire against the consequence; for example, " Graeculi " so was ( Griechlein ) a common term of abuse.

A major reason for the excesses of Bacchanalia was the combination of large amounts of alcohol with psychedelic substances such as hallucinogenic mushrooms and even Belladonna. In addition to that the mummery of the Bacchanalia had an additional disinhibiting effect. So in Euripides ' Bacchae "describes the participants as Zecher, the slip on to hides and skins and animal take over roles.

The implementation of the Bacchanalia reflects some features of the Roman religion resist at that time. Active participation in the religion was at the center of public attention.

Bacchanalienskandal 186 BC

See Bacchanalienskandal

In the early 2nd century BC, the Bacchanalia increased to boisterous, unrestrained orgies. In the year 186 BC, they were after a scandal by the Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus, the strictly regimented " Senate decision on the Bacchanalia ". According to reports the historian Flavius ​​and Titus Livius of the scandal by the Consul Spurius Postumius Albinus was uncovered. A total of 7000 women and men were executed and the Bacchanalia were subject to approval.

The inscription of Tiriolo (186 BC) are the Senate decision on the Bacchanalia again, contains the provisions on these meetings. In this it is clear that the Senate was looking at the cult clubs as a state threatening them and therefore forbade all association rights, such as the election of a Board of Directors or the establishment of a club treasury. The Senate approval authority took over complete control. The transcript of Tiriolo on a bronze plaque has been preserved and is now in the antique collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.