<P> In ancient Rome , human sacrifice was infrequent but documented . Roman authors often contrast their own behavior with that of people who would commit the heinous act of human sacrifice . These authors make it clear that such practices were from a much more uncivilized time in the past , far removed . It is thought that many ritualistic celebrations and dedications to gods used to involve human sacrifice , but have now been replaced with symbolic offerings . Dionysius of Halicarnassus says that the ritual of the Argei , in which straw figures were tossed into the Tiber river , may have been a substitute for an original offering of elderly men . Cicero claims that puppets thrown from the Pons Suplicius by the Vestal Virgins in a processional ceremony were substitutes for the past sacrifice of old men . After the Roman defeat at Cannae , two Gauls and two Greeks in male - female couples were buried under the Forum Boarium , in a stone chamber used for the purpose at least once before . In Livy 's description of these sacrifices , he distances the practice from Roman tradition and asserts that the past human sacrifices evident in the same location were `` wholly alien to the Roman spirit . '' The rite was apparently repeated in 113 BCE , preparatory to an invasion of Gaul . They buried both the Greeks and the two Gauls alive as a plea to the Gods to save Rome from destruction at the hands of Hannibal . When the Romans conquered the Celts in Gaul , they tortured the people by cutting off their hands and feet and leaving them to die . The Romans justified their actions by also accusing the Celts of practicing human sacrifice . </P>
<P> In ancient Rome , human sacrifice was infrequent but documented . Roman authors often contrast their own behavior with that of people who would commit the heinous act of human sacrifice . These authors make it clear that such practices were from a much more uncivilized time in the past , far removed . It is thought that many ritualistic celebrations and dedications to gods used to involve human sacrifice , but have now been replaced with symbolic offerings . Dionysius of Halicarnassus says that the ritual of the Argei , in which straw figures were tossed into the Tiber river , may have been a substitute for an original offering of elderly men . Cicero claims that puppets thrown from the Pons Suplicius by the Vestal Virgins in a processional ceremony were substitutes for the past sacrifice of old men . After the Roman defeat at Cannae , two Gauls and two Greeks in male - female couples were buried under the Forum Boarium , in a stone chamber used for the purpose at least once before . In Livy 's description of these sacrifices , he distances the practice from Roman tradition and asserts that the past human sacrifices evident in the same location were `` wholly alien to the Roman spirit . '' The rite was apparently repeated in 113 BCE , preparatory to an invasion of Gaul . They buried both the Greeks and the two Gauls alive as a plea to the Gods to save Rome from destruction at the hands of Hannibal . When the Romans conquered the Celts in Gaul , they tortured the people by cutting off their hands and feet and leaving them to die . The Romans justified their actions by also accusing the Celts of practicing human sacrifice . </P>
the vestal virgins were associated with the prosperity of which civilization
the vestal virgins were associated with the prosperity of which civilization
ancient Rome
ancient Rome