The whole of Marseille (called Massilia by the Romans at the time) had turned into a sea of celebration. The Dionysia Festival, which the Romans called "Bacchanalia," was also known as the Dionysia. It referred to any festival held in Greek and Roman religion in honor of Bacchus, whom the Romans called Dionysus. These festivals may originally have been rites for a god of fertility.
According to the customs of the Roman Republic, the Dionysia Festival lasted three days. At the countryside celebrations, people carried effigies of the wine god in solemn processions. Meanwhile, the festival included all sorts of rustic amusements. The Akoslia event held on the second day was especially interesting. People brought out a wineskin filled with wine and greased until its surface was slippery, then had some boys stand and jump on it. After the Dionysia Festival came the wine-pressing festival, whose main events were a grand banquet and a dancing procession; the government provided the meat. In the dance procession, people especially enjoyed dressing up as nymphs, the Holly Goddess, women celebrating the Dionysia Festival, and Satyrs. Next came the month of Ancesterion. On its first day, people performed the ceremony of opening jars of fermented wine. The second day was the Festival of Pitchers, when people drank new wine and placed bets at public feasts. They also held a secret sacrifice that day: the wife of the second-highest magistrate, the Basileus, was offered to Dionysus, though this was only a symbolic wedding ceremony. The third day was the Festival of Pots. People set out a pot of cooked vegetables to offer to the god of the underworld and the spirits of all the dead. Finally came the month of Illypholi, during which the Great Dionysia was held—the city Dionysia Festival Marseille City was celebrating