There is almost no doubt that the lifeblood of the Roman state was warfare, and that the decisions made by Roman politicians were usually in the interests of keeping this blood flowing. Through all the endless wars, Rome managed to conquer most of the territory surrounding the Mediterranean Sea and govern much of this vast swath of land by proxy of co-opted local elites. It is therefore difficult to imagine how Rome managed to keep its citizens under control without instilling in them a strong sense of fear. Despite being such a warlike nation, the Romans did not operate a police state. They brutally surveilled their citizens when they saw a threat to the state from within regarding sectarian-like behavior from religions they would consider strange. Enter Livy and the Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus of 186 BC Titus Livy was a historian who lived during the Augustan period of Rome, and is widely considered the main source of information when it comes to the Bacchanalia. Livy was clearly not a big fan of the idea of ​​the Bacchanals as he writes: “To their religious performances the pleasures of wine and banquets were added, to attract greater numbers of proselytes. When wine, lascivious talk, the night and relations between the sexes extinguished every feeling of modesty, then debauchery of every kind began to be practiced, since everyone found within reach that kind of enjoyment to which they were disposed by the predominant passion. in its nature." Aside from the likely Roman sentiment toward Bacchanalia, Livy's testimony provides some background on what that religion was like. They were probably a bunch of sex-crazed drunks who lived with a very loose moral code. A religion like the Bacchanals that is based on wine and... middle of paper... crime beyond getting them admitted? Furthermore the litmus test was obviously weak to non-existent when it came to determining whether or not someone would be a bacchanalian, considering it involved a reward for everyone who was turned in. Between Pliny's letter and Livy's account it is quite easy to understand the impression that the Romans were quite tolerant of many different religions until they got in the way. Christians were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and doing the wrong things. The Bacchanals were converting the elites with a religion that the Romans considered distasteful to say the least. Both Christians and Bacchanalians suffered horribly at the hands of the Roman authorities, and this shows that they would only tolerate so much from both groups before starting a witch hunt for them..