Bacchus

Bacchus, one of the names among the Greeks and the usual name among the Romans for Dionysus, the god of wine. Originally a mere epithet or surname, it does not occur in Greek writers till after the time of Herodotus, and its use is generally confined to the god in his more riotous aspects. The name Dionysus occurs also in Latin, though not in the Augustan poets. His worship was introduced into Rome from Greece, and was amalgamated with the worship of Liber, an old Italian deity who presided over planting and fructification. The Liberalia, celebrated every year on the 17th of March, on which day youths received the manly toga, must be distinguished from the triennial Bacchanalia or Dionysia. The latter, soon after its introduction into Italy, became the cloak for shameful immorality and crime, but was finally prohibited by the senate, 168 B.C. See DIONYSUS.