🍷 Bacchanalia

Bacchanalia were noisy ancient Roman festivals in honour of Bacchus, the god of wine. The Greeks called the same god Dionysus. The festivals involved wine, music, dance and rites. At first they were held in secret, mostly by women, and later more people took part.

In 186 BC the Roman senate banned the Bacchanalia. The authorities accused the participants of disorder and crimes, and many were punished. The story comes down to us from the Roman historian Livy. Later, similar festivals for Bacchus were still held, but under supervision.

The Bacchanalia show what role wine played in ancient culture. The Romans planted vines across the empire, drank wine and saw it as a gift of the god. Today the word bacchanalia simply means loud, riotous merrymaking. The festivals are linked to Bacchus, whose name also appears in modern names, for example the Bacchus grape variety.