Bacchus wine god roman 50 100 AD porta latina latin rome
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Contributor:
Peter Horree / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
B21CN2File size:
56.1 MB (2.5 MB Compressed download)Releases:
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3608 x 5433 px | 30.5 x 46 cm | 12 x 18.1 inches | 300dpiLocation:
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The Roman god of wine and revelry, Bacchus, seems to have been formed from the hellenization of the native Italian god Liber, patron of viticulture, to become a Roman version of Dionysos. Like Dionysos (see Greeks), Bacchus is associated predominantly with female followers (in Greek, these were known as maenads) and is also traditionally accompanied by goat-man satyrs (see chimera) who are in a state of almost perpetual sexual arousal. The secret rites of Bacchus, the Bacchanalia, were introduced to Rome in the third century bc, and were officially banned from Italy in a famous decree of 186 bc, apparently because of fears that the meetings associated with them were being used for political conspiracies; the authority of the leader of a Bacchic cell over those who belonged to it could be seen as threatening the authority of the family and of the patron-client system which linked members of society through vertical ties.