Lychnapsia

[18] At Tarentum in southern Italy (Magna Graecia), the Sicilian tyrannos Dionysus II dedicated a lampstand that held one light for each day of the year.

[20] The general practice of lychnapsia was part of rites for the care of the dead, in which context the lamp flames might be considered "ensouled", embodying or perpetuating the soul and vulnerable to extinguishing.

[22] Candles or lamps were particularly associated with Roman household and ancestor cult (Lares, Penates, the Genius), as well as with Jupiter, Tutela, Saturn, Mercury, and Aesculapius.

[25] A papyrus that records the festival budget includes oil for lighting the lamps, along with line items for polishing and garlanding statues and other expenses for the procession and temple maintenance.

[26] In the Imperial era, nocturnal sacrifices for the birthday of Isis were attended by Greek men of the highest social status, as mentioned in a letter from the senator Herodes Atticus (101–177 AD) to the Alexandrian grammarian Apollonius Dyscolus.

Numerous bronze lamp-hangers from the Roman East, dating to the 3rd century AD, have been identified as belonging to the cult of Theos Hypsistos, for whom the traditional Greco-Roman gods such as Apollo acted as angeloi (messengers).

[28] The Church father Tertullian (died c. 225) advised Christians not to participate in lamp-lighting on officially sanctioned days that had a religious character.

[31] The condemnation and deposal of Nestorius was celebrated at Ephesus with organized rejoicing explicitly called a lychnapsia: the bishops were accompanied by a procession of citizens carrying lights, and women swinging censers led the way.