The Bacchanalia: How Wine Set the Stage

Alcohol has been one of the key components of all early civilizations. Analyzing the literature of Rome and ancient Greece, we can see the importance of wine in the culture of ancient Rome. It fueled there expansion, religion, horticulture, social structure and reforms. Identifying Rome's imperialist culture where wine played a major role in trade routes and the land Rome conquered, the God of wine Bacchus/Dionysus, the reverence to wine horticulture, the acknowledgment of the drink in social reform and eventually leading towards components of early Christianity. Using poetry and mythology, we can use this as a historical lens of how important alcohol was to the formation of civilization. A natural timeline begins to express itself. When looking through the lenses of both Literature and History, the poetry being used for the topics turns out to be sequentially, with the exception of the god Bacchus, who would still be expounded upon later on in Roman Society. This Linearity gives us the easiest view to look at the place of Wine in Rome. The impact of wine in Roman society is simply too great to ignore. Perhaps, Without Wine, there would be no Roman Empire. No conquest, growth of Christianity, or spread of democratic ideas. Wine was the lifeblood of Rome. It fueled everything they did. Without the fermented grape, society as we know it would never have emerged. We owe a certain reverence to Alcohol, and literature is shown to be one of the canvases to best honor it.