BOOK VI. Worship Scandals arising from the Bacchus. But the direction which had been given to the public mind by the new worship was not to be mistaken. It showed itself in the readiness with which a great part of the population gave itself up to the congenial worship of Bacchus. This worship was not introduced by the state, but had nevertheless imperceptibly gained a footing in Rome, and had found numerous adherents. In the absence of publicity and state superintendence fanaticism had spread unchecked among great numbers of people, and at last led to practices which were in glaring contrast to the old religion and habits. 1 The animated narrative which Livy gives us of the discovery and suppression of the scandals connected with worship of the worship of Bacchus in the year 186 в.c. is perhaps the most interesting sketch of the domestic life of the Roman people that we have, and it affords an insight into details which the proud march of political history generally passes by without notice. The interest of the story is increased. by the circumstance that in an inscription of considerable length, the original copy of an edict has been preserved 2 in which the essential part of a senatorial decree was notified to one of the subject Italian towns. As a correct appreciation of this event is of the greatest importance for a thorough understanding of the intellectual life and the civil and religious institutions of Rome, it may be well to investigate the subject, more especially as all the writers of Roman history have hitherto failed to judge calmly and dispassionately of this curious social phenomenon, and have allowed themselves to be misled by hasty and one-sided notions derived from contemporary writers. Story of Publius Æbutius, a young man of good family, as Livy reports, consorted with a prostitute, a freed slave named Fecennia Hispala, who, like many women of her disreputable trade, had amassed a considerable fortune. She was so fond of the young man that she fancied she could not live without him. The father of Ebutius was dead; 1 Liv. xxxix. 8-19. The Senatusconsultum de Bacchanalibus found in Calabria in the year 1640, and now preserved in the Imperial Library at Vienna. his mother had married again, and the step-father having squandered the family property wished to get rid of the youth. The mother of Æbutius in league with her new husband suggested a plan by which they might compass the young man's ruin or even his death. The worship of Bacchus had been of late introduced by Greek priests first in Etruria and then in Rome. The mother had heard enough of the practices of the members of the new religious congregation to feel sure that a man who joined them was as good as lost. She therefore advised her son to let himself be initiated as a worshipper of Bacchus. Æbutius reported the suggestion of his mother to Hispala. The girl was terrified, and represented to the youth the dangers to which he would expose himself in such glowing colours that he refused to follow his mother's wishes. Hereupon he was formally expelled from the paternal house, and found a refuge with an aunt. At her instigation he informed the consul Postumius of the proceedings of the worshippers of Bacchus. The consul with the help of Sulpicia, his mother-in-law, managed to obtain an interview with the aunt of Æbutius, and thereupon with Hispala. In this manner he discovered the particulars of the Bacchanalian rites, and shuddered at the thought of the danger with which society and the Roman state were threatened. Hispala reported that the meetings of the initiated, which had formerly taken place three times a year, were now held five times a month. Whilst formerly they had been held publicly, they were now shrouded by the darkness of night. Men were now received as members, whereas formerly only women had been admitted; unnatural sensuality and shameful excesses were practised under the cover of religion; those who resisted attacks upon their chastity were abused with violence, some were secretly murdered and their bodies concealed, and it was then given out that they had been carried off by the gods; testaments were forged, false witnesses were suborned, and many similar crimes were committed. The number of these fanatics had increased to an incredible extent, and in CHAP. XIII. BOOK Panic caused by the worship of Bacchus. cluded not only common citizens but even noble men and women. The consul at once brought the matter before the senate and demanded an investigation. An extraordinary tribunal was established, and rewards were offered to persons who could give evidence of particulars concerning the crimes that had been committed. In the city of Rome and in the whole of Italy, the worship of Bacchus was at once forbidden, the priests were imprisoned, and measures taken to secure the town from arson and other desperate designs of the fanatics who were believed capable of all imaginable crimes. The government thought that it had discovered a gigantic conspiracy directed against the old customs and laws, against wealth, the security and life of every citizen. No one felt safe, or sure that his nearest relations were not among the band of the conspirators. High and low shared the same anxiety. The consul convoked an assembly of the alarmed people to justify the Universal fear suppression of the foreign fanaticism. seized the capital and the whole of Italy. More than seven thousand men and women, it was said, had joined in the conspiracy. Many conscious of their guilt fled or killed themselves, others were denounced and arrested. All who were guilty only of taking part in the Bacchanalian festivals were imprisoned; those who had assisted in committing foul crimes were executed, and these, we are told, were the majority. A senatorial decree confined the worship of Bacchus within narrow bounds, and subjected it to public supervision.' The investigation was continued in the next year and repeated in the year 181 B.C. 1 Liv. xxxix. 18, 7: Datum deinde consulibus negotium est ut omnia Bacchanalia (places of worship) Romæ primum, deinde per totam Italiam diruerent, extra quam si qua ibi vetusta ara aut signum consecratum esset. In reliquum deinde senatus consulto cautum est, ne qua Bacchanalia Romæ neve in Italia essent; si quis tale sacrum sollemne et necessarium duceret, nec sine religione et piaculo se id dimittere posse, apud prætorem urbanum profiteretur, prætor senatum consuleret; si ei permissum esset, cum in senatu centum non minus essent, ita id sacrum faceret, dum ne plus quinque sacrificio interessent, neu qua pecunia communis neu quis magister sacrorum aut sacerdos usset. CHAP. XIII. of the of the These are the facts as reported by Livy. The question is now whether we may believe these startling events as they are reported, or whether we should doubt their cor- Question rectness, and whether, as external proofs are wanting, we trustcan hope by reasoning from internal probability to reach worthiness a conclusion differing from that of the Roman senate story. on the guilt of the Bacchanalian fanatics. In the first place it is not difficult to arrive at the conviction that the danger which threatened the state and society in the worship of Bacchus was, if not altogether imaginary, at any rate immensely exaggerated. How could a number of religiously excited men and women have endangered the Roman government, even if their number had amounted, as it is reported, to seven thousand? They lacked everything that could have made them formidable, an object, a plan, means, and organization. Although they held their meetings at night and admitted none but the initiated, they were nevertheless not a secret society, and were not conspirators. They marched noisily through the streets to the Tiber, and dipped their burning torches into the water, attracting the wonder of spectators by drawing them out again unextinguished; their proceedings were known in the town; Hispala and the mother of Æbutius apparently were acquainted with all the particulars. People who attracted universal attention in this manner could not entertain the design of setting fire to the town or of overthrowing the state. murders of Roman More than this. The horrible crimes committed Alleged against the life and property of fellow-citizens could not be planned by a religious society as such. Such crimes citizens. are not committed in the intoxication of enthusiasm, but by cold-blooded miscreants. On the contrary, a religious society which, separated from the mass, does not enjoy universal sympathy or the protection of the law, is usually There is, indeed, a parallel in the Indian Thugs, whose peculiar worship included deliberate murder; but the Thugs took care to keep their real character a profound secret. Among European nations no such sect has ever existed except in the heated imagination of those fanatics who, in times of general ignorance, charged the Jews with slaughtering Christian children. BOOK Allega tions of immorality. characterised by peculiar purity of morals and by inoffensive conduct. But even if this were not so, we could not believe the stories of acts of violence committed by the worshippers of Bacchus to be authentic. For even if the Roman police had been more inefficient than it actually was, it was surely not possible for men to be murdered. and put out of sight with impunity, and, as it would appear, without notice being taken of it. The only part of the accusations against the unfortunate fanatics that is perhaps well founded is the charge of licentiousness and immorality, which were the natural result of orgiastic worship, and which are by no means of rare occurrence in ancient or in modern times. We cannot ascertain how far the Roman worshippers of Bacchus ventured in this matter. It would certainly be wrong to accept as the plain truth all the reports of their enemies and persecutors. The manner in which their alleged crimes were denounced and prosecuted cannot fail, in itself, to make us distrust the impartiality and justice of the procedure. The first information was given by a public prostitute who wished to secure her lover, and had perhaps no other motive than to keep the foolish youth in her clutches. The mother of Ebutius, his aunt, and the mother-in-law of the consul were the persons to whom the government was indebted for the knowledge of an alleged conspiracy-a conspiracy which had already existed for years without being checked, and which counted thousands of members. The investigation gradually gained larger dimensions, especially when rewards had been bestowed on the first informer, and when other informers were invited to come forward by the promise of more rewards. We may confidently say that whenever the evidence of such witnesses is taken the most honest and innocent of men can be convicted of the foulest crimes. The paid informers are a dark blot on Roman criminal jurisdiction, and we will take this opportunity of remarking that they were not an institution called into life by the monarchy, but that they had existed in earlier ages |