Consul Postumius gives a speech to the people to inform them on the decisions made by the senators regarding the danger of the followers of Bacchus. However, the speeches reported by Livy in his work, even if they respond to a criterion of verisimilitude, are the result of his personal elaboration. In fact, the historian… Read More Livy, History of the Bacchanalia, IV. The contio of Postumius

Ispala’s long description to the consul, the result of personal knowledge and rumors, gives us the opportunity to learn about the Livian point of view on Bacchic rites. Festugière notes that in it there would be a change of tone, there would be no trace of rhetoric, of dramatization, but a series of precise facts,… Read More Livy, History of the Bacchanalia: III. Ispala to consul Postumius

Livy begins the ninth chapter by stating that the rites of Bacchus spread from Etruria to Rome as a contagious disease. But even this news on the rapid spread of the cult from Etruria to Rome shortly before 186 a. C. has no foundation. As we have noted, the cult of Bacchus had spread widely… Read More Livy, History of the Bacchanalia: II. The fable of Aebutius and Hispala

Tiriolo agli inizi del secondo secolo a.C. non era una polis nel senso topografico della parola ma una località, o, per usare la parola “tecnica” dei consoli, un ager. Era, infatti, un territorio scarsamente urbanizzato e popolato da piccole comunità disperse nelle campagne. Era abitata da non greci: bruzi o bruzio lucani, italici insomma superficialmente ellenizzati,… Read More TIRIOLO (AGER TEURANUS) all’epoca dei Baccanali