bacchusclub.info

There arose in imperial Rome a revival of the cult of the ancient Greek God, Dionysius, the god of wine, know as Bacchus to the Romans. Worshippers would gather 5 nights per month to drink wine and perform the Bacchanal, where sexual inhibitions were discarded. As the cult grew rapidly in popularity, the Roman Senate, responding to many complaints that the Bacchanal was corrupting the daughters of Roman citizens, issued the edict Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus in the year 186 BC. The cult of Bacchus was prohibited with the penalty of imprisonment or execution.

Even so, many worshippers began to meet in secret. The authorities responded by employing spies and some neighbours also denounced the Bacchanals. Eventually more than 1,325 public executions were carried out before the Cult of the God Bacchus was finally extinguished in Rome.