Megalesia
Megalesia
Her festival was given a Greek name, the Megalesia, and in the beginning, no Roman citizens were allowed to take part in it. But over time it spread to the streets of Rome, where Cybele's image was carried in a chariot drawn by lions with her castrated priests leaping and gashing themselves in a frenzy of devotion. The procession went from the Palatine to the Circus, where games known as Ludi and plays known as ludi megalenses were held. The task of keeping the festival under Phrygian control—and within the bounds of propriety—eventually proved to be difficult, and the Megalesia became little more than a holiday celebrated in honor of the Magna Mater.
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