Baccanale

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The Bacchanals

They are secret celebrations dedicate to Bacchus, an old Italic divinity. They imitate the Greek celebrations in Dionysus’ s honour. The Bacchanals took place during the night ( at the beginning 3 times in the year, then5 times in a month). They were celebrated by the Bacchanti (the Bacchus’ s priestesses, who wore buck skins and grapevine sticks), together with other initiated people. They made orgies and they had a wild behaviour. But the Bacchanals were prohibited in 186 B.C. in Rome, because the strange behaviours of the participants caused dangerous disorders.There are some testimonies of Livio, a famous Latin writer, about Bacchanals. He wrote 2 versions about the origins of these celebrations. In the 1^st one he said that they were introduced in Italy by a Greek prophet. In the 2^nd one he said that they were born in Campania, a region in the South of Italy. He wrote also a drama to explain why the Bacchanals were prohibited.In this drama there are two young lovers. The boy’s stepfather, who wants all his riches, initiates the boy into the Bacchanals. Then the boy’s aunt will tell the all revelations about the secret celebrations to the console Postumio. He’ll make inquires about Bacchanals. At the end they will be prohibited by the Roman Senate.