Bacchites

Bacchites were devotees and initiates of the Greco-Roman mystery cults dedicated to Bacchus (Dionysus). These cults, often shrouded in secrecy, involved ecstatic rituals, music, dance, and the consumption of wine or other intoxicating substances, all intended to induce a state of divine possession or union with the god.

The Bacchites were notorious, particularly in Republican Rome, for practices that were perceived as immoral and politically subversive. Livy, in his History of Rome, provides a detailed account of the Bacchanalia scandal of 186 BC, where he describes accusations of widespread orgies, conspiracies, and even murder within the Bacchic cults. This led to a severe crackdown by the Roman Senate, which issued a senatorial decree, the Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus, severely restricting and regulating the worship of Bacchus.

While Livy's account may be exaggerated, it reflects the societal anxieties surrounding these foreign cults and their perceived threat to traditional Roman values and authority. Subsequent archaeological evidence, including inscriptions and depictions related to Bacchic rituals, suggests a more nuanced picture, with evidence of varying degrees of intensity and acceptance of Bacchic worship in different regions and time periods.

The term "Bacchites" can also refer more broadly to anyone who engages in wild, unrestrained celebrations or displays of revelry, evocative of the god Bacchus and his followers.