Ancient Parties Were Structured Rituals, Not Hollywood Orgies, Historians Argue
The portrayal of ancient celebrations in popular culture contrasts sharply with historical accounts of festivities in Rome, Greece, and Egypt. Contrary to common belief, the vomitorium was not a place for purging but an exit in venues such as the Colosseum. Livy’s Ab Urbe Condita criticized the Bacchanalian cult in Rome, which faced Senate regulation in 186 BC, with severe penalties for noncompliance. Greek symposia, presided over by a symposiarch, emphasized poetry and dance, with women's participation varying. Discovered in 2009, Nero's Domus Aurea included a dining room that rotated. Tacitus recorded a sumptuous banquet hosted by Tigellinus on a raft. The Tekh Festival in Egypt honored Hathor with music and flowers, while excessive drinking was frowned upon globally.
Key facts
- Vomitoria were stadium exit points such as those at the Colosseum, not rooms for induced vomiting
- Livy's Ab Urbe Condita described Bacchanalian rites as drunken, conspiratorial and murderous, but was written as propaganda by a conservative historian
- In 186 BC the Roman Senate reformed Bacchic worship, controlling its size, organization and priesthood and threatening execution for nonconformity
- A symposiarch governed wine flow at Greek symposia, where wine was generally diluted
- Nero's Domus Aurea dining hall measured 50 feet across and stood on a pillar more than 13 feet in diameter, discovered by archaeologists in 2009
- Suetonius said the rotating hall had an ivory ceiling that released flowers and perfume on guests
- Tacitus described Tigellinus's banquet on a raft in the Pool of Agrippa with exotic animals, brothels and dancing women
- Egypt's Tekh Festival celebrated Hathor, goddess of dancing, merriment, love, beauty and sexuality
- Women of the Roman Republic were barred from wine at convivia, a restriction later lifted
- Etruscan women appear to have enjoyed equal status at such gatherings, unlike Greek women
Entities
Artists
- Livy
- Plato
- Xenophon
- Socrates
- Nero
- Suetonius
- Tacitus
- Tigellinus
- Hathor
- Montu
- Nicolas Bertin
- Lawrence Alma-Tadema
- Ulpiano Checa y Sanz
- Helen Mirren
Institutions
- Roman Senate
- Colosseum
- Domus Aurea
- National Museum in Warsaw
- British Museum
- Wikimedia Commons
- IMDb
- TheCollector
Locations
- Rome
- Italy
- Greece
- Egypt
- Etruria
- China
- Near East
- Africa
- Europe
- Pool of Agrippa
- Warsaw
- Poland
- London
- United Kingdom