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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 skepti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Festivals
Festivals in ancient Rome were a very important part in Roman religious life during both the Republican and Imperial eras, and one of the primary features of the Roman calendar. ''Feriae'' ("holidays" in the sense of "holy days"; singular also ''feriae'' or ''dies ferialis'') were either public ''(publicae)'' or private ''( privatae)''. State holidays were celebrated by the Roman people and received public funding. Games ''(ludi)'', such as the Ludi Apollinares, were not technically ''feriae'', but the days on which they were celebrated were '' dies festi'', holidays in the modern sense of days off work. Although ''feriae'' were paid for by the state, ''ludi'' were often funded by wealthy individuals. ''Feriae privatae'' were holidays celebrated in honor of private individuals or by families. This article deals only with public holidays, including rites celebrated by the state priests of Rome at temples, as well as celebrations by neighborhoods, families, and friends held s ... [...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 Terent ... [...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] |
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 distin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Augur
An augur was a priest and official in the classical Roman world. His main role was the practice of augury, the interpretation of the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds. Determinations were based upon whether they were flying in groups or alone, what noises they made as they flew, the direction of flight, what kind of birds they were, etc. This practice was known as "''taking the auspices''". The augural ceremony and function of the augur was central to any major undertaking in Roman society – public or private – including matters of war, commerce, and religion. Augurs sought the divine will regarding any proposed course of action which might affect Rome's ''pax'', ''fortuna'', and ''salus'' (peace, good fortune, and well-being). Etymology Although ancient authors believed that the term "augur" contained the words ''avis'' and ''gerō'' – Latin for "directing the birds" – historical-linguistic evidence points instead to the root ''auge ... [...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 equivalent. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plebeian
In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words " commoners". Both classes were hereditary. Etymology The precise origins of the group and the term are unclear, but may be related to the Greek, ''plēthos'', meaning masses. In Latin, the word is a singular collective noun, and its genitive is . Plebeians were not a monolithic social class. Those who resided in the city and were part of the four urban tribes are sometimes called the , while those who lived in the country and were part of the 31 smaller rural tribes are sometimes differentiated by using the label . (List of Roman tribes) In ancient Rome In the annalistic tradition of Livy and Dionysius, the distinction between patricians and plebeians was as old as Rome itself, instituted by Romulus' appointment of the first hundred senators, whose descendants became the patriciate. Modern hypotheses date ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tiber
The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the River Aniene, to the Tyrrhenian Sea, between Ostia and Fiumicino. It drains a basin estimated at . The river has achieved lasting fame as the main watercourse of the city of Rome, which was founded on its eastern banks. The river rises at Mount Fumaiolo in central Italy and flows in a generally southerly direction past Perugia and Rome to meet the sea at Ostia. Known in ancient times (in Latin) as ''flavus'' ("the blond"), in reference to the yellowish colour of its water, the Tiber has advanced significantly at its mouth, by about , since Roman times, leaving the ancient port of Ostia Antica inland."Tiber River". ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. 2006 However, it does not form a proportional delta, owing to a strong north-flowing sea current ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aventine Hill
The Aventine Hill (; la, Collis Aventinus; it, Aventino ) is one of the Seven Hills on which ancient Rome was built. It belongs to Ripa, the modern twelfth ''rione'', or ward, of Rome. Location and boundaries The Aventine Hill is the southernmost of Rome's seven hills. It has two distinct heights, one greater to the northwest (''Aventinus Major'') and one lesser to the southeast (''Aventinus Minor''), divided by a steep cleft that provides the base for an ancient roadway between the heights. During the Republican era, the two hills may have been recognized as a single entity. The Augustan reforms of Rome's urban neighbourhoods ('' vici'') recognised the ancient road between the two heights (the modern Viale Aventino) as a common boundary between the new Regio XIII, which absorbed Aventinus Maior, and the part of Regio XII known as Aventinus Minor. Etymology and mythology Most Roman sources trace the name of the hill to a legendary king Aventinus. Servius identifies two ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semele
Semele (; Ancient Greek: Σεμέλη ), in Greek mythology, was the youngest daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia (Greek goddess), Harmonia, and the mother of Dionysus by Zeus in one of his many origin myths. Certain elements of the cult of Dionysus and Semele came from the Phrygians. These were modified, expanded, and elaborated by the Ionian Greeks, Greek invaders and colonists. Dorians, Doric Greek historian Herodotus (c. 484–425 BC), born in the city of Halicarnassus under the Achaemenid Empire, who gives the account of Cadmus, estimates that Semele lived either 1,000 or 1,600 years prior to his visit to Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre in 450 BC at the end of the Greco-Persian Wars (499–449 BC) or around 2050 or 1450 BC. In Rome, the goddess #Semele in Roman culture, Stimula was identified as Semele. Etymology According to some linguists the name Semele is Thracians, Thraco-Phrygians, Phrygian, derived from a PIE root meaning 'earth' (''*Dʰéǵʰōm''). Julius Pokorny reconstructs her ... [...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 Pax deorum, good relations with the gods. Their Polytheism, polytheistic religion is known for having honored List of Roman deities, many deities. The presence of Magna Graecia, Greeks on the Italian peninsula from the beginning of the historical period influenced Culture of ancient Rome, Roman culture, introducing some religious practices that became fundamental, such as the ''Cult (religious practice), cultus'' of Apollo. The Romans looked for common ground between their major gods and those of the Greeks (''interpretatio graeca''), adapting Greek mythology, Greek myths and iconography for Latin literature and Roman art, as the Etruscans h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Campania
Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the island of Capri. The capital of the Campania region is Naples. As of 2018, the region had a population of around 5,820,000 people, making it Italy's third most populous region, and, with an area of , its most densely populated region. Based on its Gross domestic product, GDP, Campania is also the most economically productive region in southern Italy List of Italian regions by GDP, and the 7th most productive in the whole country. Naples' urban area, which is in Campania, is the List of urban areas in the European Union, eighth most populous in the European Union. The region is home to 10 of the 58 List of World Heritage Sites in Italy, UNESCO sites in Italy, including Pompeii and Herculaneum, the Royal Palace of Caserta, the Amalfi Coast and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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