Ancient Roman Religion: Beliefs, Cults, and Gods
Foundations of Roman Religion
Roman religion was based above all on fear. The Roman sought protection in a religion based on worship and ritual. Roman religion was sometimes conceived as a contract between man and divinity: in exchange for sacrifices and other acts of worship, the gods protected the Romans, who were prone to superstition.
As Rome came into contact with peoples who had different religious beliefs and deities, they assimilated, transformed, or adapted these, resulting in a mosaic of beliefs, cults, and rituals that were difficult to order.
Types of Roman Cults and Worship
Roman religion had three distinct types of cult:
Popular Cults
The popular cult was the cult of the primitive agrarian commoners. Ceres was the goddess who enjoyed mayor favor; sacrifices and rituals were held to ensure prosperous harvests. They worshipped the Lares Compitales, that is, gods of the roads and crossroads.
Family Worship
The significance of the family in Rome was reflected in religion. This cult was that of the patricians. The rituals were not homogeneous; each family could be organized differently within a few basic guidelines. The paterfamilias was the officiating minister.
These practices were divided into three areas:
- The worship of ancestors was concentrated around the founder of the patrician lineage.
- The cult of the home was a good example of love for the Roman home; each family member had their protective deities. (The Lar Familiaris, founder of the home, protected all who lived in the house. The Penates, deities of the storerooms, were responsible for ensuring the livelihood of family members.)
- The cult of the dead had a great influence among the Romans. The Manes were the spirits of ancestors.
Public Worship
The basic rituals of Roman religion were prayer and sacrifice. Fear was the only emotion that arose. This fear stemmed from confusion, from not knowing the formulas correctly or overlooking some ceremony.
Influence of Other Cults
In Imperial times, the picture was enlarged significantly. The Romans were attracted by Oriental cults dedicated to individual gods that promised happiness in the afterlife and encouraged belief in the afterlife. Cybele, Mithras, Isis, and Osiris, among others, enjoyed great prestige among the Romans.
Christianity took root in the more modest strata of society. Christians refused to worship the Roman gods and caused discord with state officials. From the Edict of Milan (313), Christianity enjoyed the same rights as other religions and eventually became the official religion.
Roman Deities and the Pantheon
Primitive Roman Gods
The primitive Romans worshipped a number of genuinely rooted deities in the popular mind. Some of them were:
- Ceres, goddess of the fruits of the earth;
- Faunus, god of cattle;
- Flora, goddess of plants;
- Janus, god of light;
- Pomona, goddess of fruits and trees;
- Saturnus, the god of seeds;
- Vertumnus, god of the seasons and trade;
- Vesta, goddess of the hearth.
During the Republican era, Roman divinities were assimilated with many Greek ones. The names were altered, but the forms and attributes of the Greek Olympian gods remained.
The Roman Pantheon and Greek Equivalents
Major gods included:
The Capitoline Triad
- Jupiter (Zeus) was the all-powerful god of heaven and the universe, characterized by an eagle and scepter.
- Juno (Hera) was characterized by the pomegranate and the peacock.
- Minerva (Athena) was characterized by the helmet, the owl, and the olive.
Other Major Gods
- Mars (Ares) is characterized by the spear and the helmet of war.
- Neptune (Poseidon) is characterized by the trident.
- Venus (Aphrodite) had the attribute of the pigeon.
- Diana (Artemis)’s attributes were the bow and the hind.
- Mercury (Hermes)’s attributes were the caduceus and winged sandals.
- Vulcan (Hephaestus)’s attributes were the anvil.
- Ceres (Demeter) had as distinctive attributes the sickle and sheaf of grain.
- Apollo (Phoebus), god of music, is represented by the bow and the lyre.
- Bacchus (Dionysus), god of wine, had excesses committed during the celebration of festivals in his honor (Bacchanalia) result in a decree of the Senate prohibiting the meeting.