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Bacchanalia
The Bacchanalia were unofficial, privately funded popular Roman festivals of Bacchus, based on various ecstatic elements of the Greek Dionysia. They were almost certainly associated with Rome's native cult of Liber, and probably arrived in Rome itself around 200 BC. Like all mystery religions of the ancient world, very little is known of their rites. They seem to have been popular and well-organised throughout the central and southern Italian peninsula. Livy, writing some 200 years after the event, offers a scandalized and extremely colourful account of the Bacchanalia, with frenzied rites, sexually violent initiations of both sexes, all ages and all social classes; he represents the cult as a murderous instrument of conspiracy against the state. Livy claims that seven thousand cult leaders and followers were arrested, and that most were executed. Livy believed the Bacchanalia scandal to be one of several indications of Rome's inexorable moral decay. Modern scholars take a sk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hispala Faecenia
Hispala Faecenia was a freedwoman and highly ranked courtesan from ancient Rome involved in giving a testimony that helped put a stop to the Bacchanalian scandal of 186 BCE. Hispala's role in the Bacchanalian scandal was to provide information on exactly what happened at the Bacchanalia. Sources Most of what is known about Hispala Faecenia comes from Livy, who discussed her in book 39 of his ''History of Rome''. Livy's describes her as a freedwoman and courtesan, who took care of herself while enslaved until she was manumitted. Life Profession Livy claims that Hispala was a very well known courtesan. According to Danuta Musial, he draws on the fact that Livy does not hide Hispala's client and customer relationship. Musial also makes a point to say that the reason Hispala was no longer dishonourable was because she made a confession in front of a consul with appropriate attitude, which in turn evoked the repression of the Bacchanalia. Musial goes on to say that Hispala suppor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liber
In Religion in ancient Rome, ancient Roman religion and Roman mythology, mythology, Liber ( , ; "the free one"), also known as Liber Pater ("the free Father"), was a god of viticulture and wine, male fertility and freedom. He was a patron deity of Rome's Plebeians, plebeians and was part of their Aventine Triad. His festival of Liberalia (March 17) became associated with free speech and the rights attached to coming of age. His cult and functions were increasingly associated with Romanised forms of the Greek Dionysus/Bacchus, whose mythology he came to share. Etymology The name ''Līber'' ('free') stems from Proto-Italic language, Proto-Italic ''*leuþero'', and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European language, Proto-Indo-European ''*h₁leudʰero'' ('belonging to the people', hence 'free'). Origins and establishment Before his official adoption as a Roman deity, Liber was companion to two different goddesses in two separate, archaic Italian fertility cults; Ceres (Roman mytho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liber Pater
In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Liber ( , ; "the free one"), also known as Liber Pater ("the free Father"), was a god of viticulture and wine, male fertility and freedom. He was a patron deity of Rome's plebeians and was part of their Aventine Triad. His festival of Liberalia (March 17) became associated with free speech and the rights attached to coming of age. His cult and functions were increasingly associated with Romanised forms of the Greek Dionysus/Bacchus, whose mythology he came to share. Etymology The name ''Līber'' ('free') stems from Proto-Italic ''*leuþero'', and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ''*h₁leudʰero'' ('belonging to the people', hence 'free'). Origins and establishment Before his official adoption as a Roman deity, Liber was companion to two different goddesses in two separate, archaic Italian fertility cults; Ceres, an agricultural and fertility goddess of Rome's Hellenised neighbours, and Libera, who was Liber's female equiva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bacchus
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre, theatre. The Ancient Rome, Romans called him Bacchus ( or ; grc, wikt:Βάκχος, Βάκχος ) for a frenzy he is said to induce called ''bakkheia''. As Dionysus Eleutherios ("the liberator"), his wine, music, and ecstatic dance free his followers from self-conscious fear and care, and subvert the oppressive restraints of the powerful. His ''thyrsus'', a fennel-stem sceptre, sometimes wound with ivy and dripping with honey, is both a beneficent wand and a weapon used to destroy those who oppose his cult and the freedoms he represents. Those who partake of his mysteries are believed to become possessed and empowered by the god himself. His origins are uncertain, and Cult of Dionysus, his cults took many forms ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Senatus Consultum De Bacchanalibus
The ''senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus'' ("senatorial decree concerning the Bacchanalia") is a notable Old Latin inscription dating to 186 BC. It was discovered in 1640 at Tiriolo, in Calabria, southern Italy. Published by the presiding praetor, it conveys the substance of a decree of the Roman Senate prohibiting the Bacchanalia throughout all Italy, except in certain special cases which must be approved specifically by the Senate. When members of the elite began to participate, information was put before the Senate by Publius Aebutius and his lover and neighbour Hispala Faecenia, who was also a well-known prostitute, as told in the ''Ab Urbe Condita Libri'' of Livy. The cult was held to be a threat to the security of the state, investigators were appointed, rewards were offered to informants, legal processes were put in place and the Senate began the official suppression of the cult throughout Italy. According to the Augustan historian Livy, the chief historical source, many ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paculla Annia
Paculla Annia was a Campanian priestess of Bacchus. She is known only through the Roman historian Livy's account of the introduction, growth and spread of unofficial Bacchanalia festivals, which were ferociously suppressed in 186 BC under threat of extreme penalty. Paculla Annia is said to have presided over the corruption of Bacchus's mystery cult and its holy '' orgia'', starting around 188. Livy describes the Bacchanalia as hitherto reserved to women, a daylight ritual held on just three days of the year; Paculla Annia changed them to nocturnal rites, increased their frequency to five a month, opened them to all social classes and both sexes - starting with her own sons, Minius and Herennius Cerrinius - and made wine-fueled violence and sexual promiscuity mandatory for all initiates. The cult was thought to function as a hidden state within the state, with particular appeal to those with ''leuitas animi'' (fickle or uneducated minds); the lower classes, plebeians, women, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Religion In Ancient Rome
Religion in ancient Rome consisted of varying imperial and provincial religious practices, which were followed both by the people of Rome as well as those who were brought under its rule. The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious, and attributed their success as a world power to their collective piety ''( pietas)'' in maintaining good relations with the gods. Their polytheistic religion is known for having honored many deities. The presence of Greeks on the Italian peninsula from the beginning of the historical period influenced Roman culture, introducing some religious practices that became fundamental, such as the '' cultus'' of Apollo. The Romans looked for common ground between their major gods and those of the Greeks ('' interpretatio graeca''), adapting Greek myths and iconography for Latin literature and Roman art, as the Etruscans had. Etruscan religion was also a major influence, particularly on the practice of augury, used by the state to seek the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dionysia
The Dionysia (, , ; Greek: Διονύσια) was a large festival in ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus, the central events of which were the theatrical performances of dramatic tragedies and, from 487 BC, comedies. It was the second-most important festival after the Panathenaia. The Dionysia actually consisted of two related festivals, the Rural Dionysia and the City Dionysia, which took place in different parts of the year. They were also an essential part of the Dionysian Mysteries. Rural Dionysia The Dionysia was originally a rural festival in Eleutherae, Attica ( – ''Dionysia ta kat' agrous''), probably celebrating the cultivation of vines. It was probably a very ancient festival, perhaps not originally associated with Dionysus. This "rural Dionysia" was held during the winter, in the month of Poseideon (the month straddling the winter solstice, i.e., Dec.-Jan.). The central event was the ''pompe'' (πομπή), the procession, in which '' phalloi' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aebutia (gens)
The gens Aebutia was an ancient Roman family that was prominent during the early Republic. The gens was originally patrician, but also had plebeian branches. The first member to obtain the consulship was Titus Aebutius Helva, consul in 499 BC. ''Praenomina'' During the first century of the Republic, the Aebutii used the praenomina ''Titus, Lucius, Postumus'', and '' Marcus''. In later times, they also used the name '' Publius''. Branches and ''cognomina'' The patrician Aebutii used the cognomen ''Helva'' (also found as ''Elva'' in some sources). ''Cornicen'' was a personal surname belonging to one of the Helvae. No patrician Aebutius held any curule magistracy from 442 to 176 BC, when Marcus Aebutius Helva obtained the praetorship. ''Carus'' was a cognomen of the plebeian Aebutii. Later surnames include ''Faustus'', ''Liberalis'', and ''Pinnius''. Members Aebutii Helvae * Titus Aebutius T. f. Helva, consul in 499 BC. * Lucius Aebutius T. f. T. n. Helva , consul in 46 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mystery Religions
Mystery religions, mystery cults, sacred mysteries or simply mysteries, were religious schools of the Greco-Roman world for which participation was reserved to initiates ''(mystai)''. The main characterization of this religion is the secrecy associated with the particulars of the initiation and the ritual practice, which may not be revealed to outsiders. The most famous mysteries of Greco-Roman antiquity were the Eleusinian Mysteries, which predated the Greek Dark Ages. The mystery schools flourished in Late Antiquity; Julian the Apostate in the mid 4th century is known to have been initiated into three distinct mystery schools—most notably the mithraists. Due to the secret nature of the school, and because the mystery religions of Late Antiquity were persecuted by the Christian Roman Empire from the 4th century, the details of these religious practices are derived from descriptions, imagery and cross-cultural studies. Much information on the Mysteries come from Marcus Tere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mystery Cult
Mystery religions, mystery cults, sacred mysteries or simply mysteries, were religious schools of the Greco-Roman world for which participation was reserved to initiates ''(mystai)''. The main characterization of this religion is the secrecy associated with the particulars of the initiation and the ritual practice, which may not be revealed to outsiders. The most famous mysteries of Greco-Roman antiquity were the Eleusinian Mysteries, which predated the Greek Dark Ages. The mystery schools flourished in Late Antiquity; Julian the Apostate in the mid 4th century is known to have been initiated into three distinct mystery schools—most notably the mithraists. Due to the secret nature of the school, and because the mystery religions of Late Antiquity were persecuted by the Christian Roman Empire from the 4th century, the details of these religious practices are derived from descriptions, imagery and cross-cultural studies. Much information on the Mysteries come from Marcus Tere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aventine Triad
The Aventine Triad (also referred to as the plebeian Triad or the agricultural Triad) is a modern term for the joint cult of the Roman deities Ceres, Liber and Libera. The cult was established ca. 493 BC within a sacred district ''(templum)'' on or near the Aventine Hill, traditionally associated with the Roman '' plebs''. Later accounts describe the temple building and rites as "Greek" in style. Some modern historians describe the Aventine Triad as a plebeian parallel and self-conscious antithesis to the Archaic Triad of Jupiter, Mars and Quirinus and the later Capitoline Triad of Jupiter, Minerva and Juno. The Aventine Triad, temple and associated ''ludi'' (games and theatrical performances) served as a focus of plebeian identity, sometimes in opposition to Rome's original ruling elite, the patricians. Origins The Aventine relationship between Ceres, Liber and Libera was probably based first on their functions as agricultural and fertility deities of the ''plebs'' as a disti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
