The Bacchanalia were festivals celebrated in the later Roman Republic and early Imperial periods, and were dedicated to Bacchus (Dionysus), the god of wine-making, liberty and much more. Thought to have been introduced into Rome around the start of the second century BCE, they were private and initially not state-controlled, and therefore attracted much suspicion as to what went on during their rites by those who were not invited and so were in no position to know. In 186 BCE the Senate placed severe restrictions on them, perhaps partly as a show of authority for others, but the cult and festivals remained popular in some quarters until well into the Imperial period. They permitted women to be priests (indeed it was for a time a women-only cult), and were later open to both genders and all social classes, thus fuelling dislike from certain conservative quarters who felt that every social class, and every gender, should know their place and act accordingly.

Nothing changes in human history. Some elites and right-wing writers like to view any sort of secret rites or organisations as immoral at the very least, and probably dangerous to the state and society. Thus the Roman historian Livy has left a lurid account of what he imagined went on during these festivals, and while there is no evidence that his colourful condemnation is accurate, it has provided the pretext for some in later centuries to imagine Roman society as thoroughly immoral, describing all manner of sexual activity and drunken debauchery. This in turn has provided the excuse for numerous paintings, stories, entertainments and now, figure sets.

Linear-A say that the set is inspired by the film Caligula (1979), which is based on the titled emperor and according to IMDB includes much ‘unsimulated sex’. It is almost always heavily cut before being permitted to be shown in many countries, and some have banned it outright. What this set actually contains is a group of poses of people engaging in various sexual acts. Nothing is left to the imagination, and the acts take various forms which, presumably, were included in the film (ironically there is no evidence of drinking here). None of the figures wear any clothing, so any discussion of historical accuracy would be meaningless as the figures could just as easily be modern as ancient. Some of the pieces can be joined together to form pairs and triples of poses, but we won’t be elaborating on that description of the poses any further.

The figures are 3D printed, and while certain pairings still require figures to be placed together, the printing technique means there is complete anatomical accuracy with no compromises in terms of pose or anatomy. The result is certainly very realistic, and all the poses are very lifelike and believable, so it is a great exercise in sculpting of the human form. We found one or two of the figures had been malformed, but generally they are faultless, with no flash or excess plastic, despite the very challenging nature of the subject material.

Pornography is sometimes described using the euphemism ‘special interest’, and this is certainly a special interest set. While technically very well done, it will not be to everyone’s taste (the manufacturer themselves mark the box as for 18+ only). Whether it accurately depicts the activities associated with the Bacchanalia we will never know, although it probably does reflect the worst fears of pompous Roman elites, but none of that is really relevant here. This is a piece of 1/72 scale porn, and if you like that sort of thing then this is a very well executed example of the type. Naturally you will have to look elsewhere for images or more details.