Bacchanalia

Bacchanalia, in the strict sense the triennial festival of Bacchus, introduced among the native population of Italy from the cities in Magna Graecia. Its character was entirely transformed, according to Livy, by Pacula Annia, a Roman matron. The gross immoralities which accompanied its new form led to its suppression in 186 B.C. by the Roman Senate, after inquiry by a special commission. Commonly the term is applied to any scene of drunkenness and disorder.