Roman religion in ancient times was extremely important for the Roman state and in the daily lives of its people. The ancient Romans believed that if the gods were happy, their own success would follow. At all times, they sought to keep the pax deorum (peace of the gods) and avoid the ira deorum (anger of the gods). To this end, almost every public or private action could be accompanied by a prayer, vow, or sacrifice to the gods. The state controlled religion during the Roman Republic (509-27 B.C.) and the Roman Empire (27 B.C.-A.D. 476).
Religion in the Roman Republic
Priests
were government officials, elected or appointed to office. The Romans had many different types of priests. Pontifices were the most important priests. They were in charge of all state rituals. The chief priest of the pontifices, and head of the state religion, was called the pontifex maximus. Priests called augurs observed the sky, and particularly birds, for signs from the gods. The augurs were consulted before every important state action or event, such as going to war. Other priests kept the Sibylline Books, which contained prophecies (predictions about the future) and rituals. They consulted the books whenever a frightening portent was seen in Roman territory. A portent is a natural occurrence interpreted as a sign. Six priestesses known as the Vestal Virgins kept a sacred fire burning in the temple of the goddess Vesta. There also were many other priests who filled specific roles at different festivals and on particular occasions.
The Romans sometimes consulted specialist priests called haruspices from Etruria when they needed help explaining a certain event, or to confirm the interpretation of a portent. Etruria was a territory northwest of Rome, and its people were the Etruscans .
Gods, temples, and festivals.
The ancient Romans adopted most of their deities (gods and goddesses) from the Greeks and gave them Roman names. For example, Zeus , the ruler of the Greek gods, became Jupiter , the supreme Roman god. However, the Romans worshipped a much broader range of gods than the Greeks had worshipped. The Roman gods included traditional Italian gods, such as Saturn ; Greek gods, such as Hercules and the Dioscuri ( Castor and Pollux , sons of Zeus); and deities symbolizing qualities, such as Concordia (harmony), Fides (loyalty), and Spes (hope).
The Romans built many temples and shrines to honor their deities. The centerpiece of every Roman city was a temple dedicated to three deities called the Capitoline triad— Juno , Jupiter, and Minerva . Each Roman temple housed a statue of the god it honored. Sacrifices to the gods took place on altars in front of the temples.
The Roman year included many festivals to honor the different gods. These festivals could last for several days. Events that accompanied the festivals included athletic contests, chariot races , fights between warriors called gladiators , processions, sacrifices, and theatrical performances. There were festivals to celebrate the major gods, such as Juno, Jupiter, and Mars , and others to honor nymphs (nature goddesses) and other lesser deities. Some festivals had broad popular appeal and demanded community participation. Others appealed to a specific group, such as dockworkers, wine producers, or women.
Private religion
at home also was important to the ancient Romans. Each household had a shrine called a lararium, where the head of the family made offerings to ancestors and the gods who protected the home. Every significant action or life event was accompanied by household sacrifices to deities such as Juno Lucina, the goddess of childbirth.
Divination and magic.
An important feature of Roman religion in both public and private was divination—telling the future and examining the will of the gods to ward off their anger. Roman divination typically sought to understand the gods’ state of mind rather than make a prophecy. The main form of public divination was augury. The augurs interpreted the actions of birds to determine if the gods approved of human actions. The Romans also examined the entrails (inner parts) of animals they sacrificed for signs of divine approval. The Romans sometimes used the Etruscan practice of examining an animal’s entrails, especially the liver, to make a prophecy.
In private, individuals generally could worship any gods of their choice and consult experts in divination to discover what the future had in store for them. For example, they might consult astrologers , dream interpreters, and readers of animal entrails. Private individuals also used magic . For example, they might employ “curse tablets” bearing sacred symbols and strange phrases to curse a thief or to defeat rivals in matters of business or love. Such tablets often were made of lead. Individuals also used amulets and talismans—that is, objects considered to have magical power—to ward off danger, disaster, and disease.
Religion in the Roman Empire
During the later republic, religion increasingly became a way for powerful individuals to show that they had a special relationship with the gods. Prophecy became more common, and ordinary people seem to have become more interested in omens (signs) indicating the success or failure of their politicians. At the same time, traditional state practices, such as augury and the interpretation of portents, seem to have declined.
The emperor and religion.
When Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, also called Octavian, became the first emperor of Rome in 27 B.C., he realized the importance of religion. Augustus , the name he took as emperor, was associated with the tradition of augury. Augustus moved the Sibylline Books to the temple of Apollo , close to his own house. He used elements of popular religious practice, such as astrology, to demonstrate to the people his special relationship with the gods. In 12 B.C., Augustus became pontifex maximus. From then until the A.D. 300’s, when the Christian Emperor Gratian gave up the title, the position always was held by the emperor.
A religious cult developed around some Roman rulers, who were deified (made gods) after their deaths. This tradition began with the deification of the Roman ruler Julius Caesar (died 44 B.C.) and later included the emperors Augustus (died A.D. 14), Claudius (died A.D. 54), and Vespasian (died A.D. 79). In Rome and other western parts of the empire, temples generally were established to worship emperors as gods only after the emperors had died. However, communities sometimes established temples in honor of Rome and Augustus, or the life spirit of the emperor’s family, during the emperor’s lifetime. In contrast to the west, Greek cities in the eastern part of the empire regularly established temples in honor of living emperors.
New religious influences.
As the Roman Empire expanded into foreign lands, so did opportunities for new religious experiences. A process of incorporating foreign elements into Roman religion had begun during the republic, when Romans adopted such deities as Aesculapius , the Greek god of healing, and Cybele, the Phrygian mother goddess. In some parts of the empire, the Romans combined their own gods with local gods who had similar characteristics. For example, at Bath in Roman Britain, Britons and Romans worshipped Sulis Minerva, a combination of the Celtic goddess of healing, Sulis, and the Roman goddess of wisdom and crafts, Minerva. The Romans were particularly attracted to the more exotic religions they encountered. The worship of the Egyptian goddess Isis became popular among Romans. The Persian god Mithras became a favorite deity of Roman soldiers. Hundreds of sites dedicated to Mithras have been found in areas once ruled by Rome.
Christianity.
At various times, the Roman state and emperors tried to prevent the spread of new religions, sometimes brutally. This was especially true in the case of Christianity , a religion that developed during the first century A.D. Christianity spread quickly throughout the eastern part of the empire and Roman North Africa. Churches soon were established in many major Roman cities. Christianity offered its followers spiritual salvation and relief from daily troubles. It encouraged them to follow only one God and renounce the Roman gods. Men, women, freeborn people, and slaves could join the Christian faith. In addition, anybody could become a deacon or a bishop, a fact that threatened Rome’s clearly defined class and social system. Deacons and bishops are two types of Christian clergy.
The Roman state often persecuted Christians. For example, the emperor Nero blamed the Christians for a great fire that destroyed much of Rome in A.D. 64. During periods of persecution from about the 100’s to the early 300’s, some Christians were executed in amphitheaters or crucified . But such treatment only strengthened the resolve of Christians. By the early 300’s, Christianity had spread widely throughout the empire. The emperor Constantine the Great legalized the faith in 313. In 325, Constantine called together the first Council of Nicaea . This council of bishops drew up a statement of essential Christian beliefs, now called the Nicene Creed.
In the early 360’s, the emperor Julian tried unsuccessfully to restore Rome’s traditional religious practices. He was the last emperor to oppose Christianity. A series of laws passed in the late 300’s prohibited divination and sacrifices in public, then all forms of pagan (non-Christian) worship. However, evidence of ancient Roman religion survived within the new faith. For example, some Christian churches were created from former Roman temples, and some Christian festivals incorporated earlier, pagan customs.
