16. During the second Punic war, the Romans imported from
Asia the worship of the mother of the gods. Her festival,
the Megalesia, began on the fourth of April, and lasted
six days. The streets were crowded with mad processions, the
theatres with spectators, and the public tables with
unbidden guests. Order and police were suspended, and
pleasure was the only serious business of the city. See
Ovid. de Fastis, 1. iv. 1 89, etc.