Download religion - Otahuhu College Classical Studies

DO NOW – MATCH THE
TERMS WITH
DEFINITIONS
TERMS
DEFINITIONS
Patrician One of the common
people
Vilicus
Governing body of
Rome
atrium
Wealthy aristocrat
libertus
Slave overseer of farm
plebeian
Freedman
senate
Hall in the household
RELIGION
ACTIVITY


Write the 12 Olympian gods
names and their
responsibilities
Next to them see if you can
write the Roman name.
ACTIVITY


Brainstorm about your religion
in your book, and the positions
that are in your church.
Roman Religion powerpoint.ppt
READING

YOU ARE GOING TO READ
FROM A TEXT BOOK AND
CREATE A TREE MAP


YOUR TREE MAP IS GOING TO
BE SEPERATED INTO 4
BRANCHES
TITLES ARE




STATE
HOUSEHOLD
NEW
POSITIONS OF RELIGION
PONTIFEX MAXIMUS

The head priest of the Roman state
religion was the Pontifex Maximus, or the
greatest of the college of pontifices.
While an obviously important and
prominent position within the ranks of the
Roman system, the Pontifex Maximus was
not considered a magistrate comparable
to a Consul, Praetor, etc. During the
Republic, the Pontifex was elected by the
Comitia Tributa and served for life, while
during the Empire, the position was
generally held by the Emperor himself.
Originally, the Ponifices were Patrician
only, but the social conditions and
changes during the late Republic
allowed for Plebeian election as well.
These men were responsible for the
oversight of the state religious cult as a
whole and didn’t really oversee
particular godly cults, though they could
if necessary.

By the Imperial period there were 16
pontifices under the high priest, 15
flamines, who were special priests of the
main deities, and the Rex Sacrorum (king
of the sacrifices) who performed the
religious acts that the king had usually
done. Perhaps most importantly, he was
he was also responsible for the 18 Vestal
Virgins. The main duty of the pontifices
was to provide the pax deorum, or the
'peace with the gods'. Interpreting
omens, sometimes through augures,
controlling and keeping the official
calendar, and the oversight of funerals all
fell under the domain of the Pontifex
Maximus. He was responsible for an
enormous collection of omens (annales
maximi); that would be recorded and
collected on a nearly constant basis.
These heavenly signs would be written
down along with accompanying events,
and used to determine the divine favor
of the gods. Doing so allowed following
generations of priests and magistrates to
understand the historic will of the gods
and interpret future events against past
patterns. Today, the head of the Roman
Catholic Church, the Pope, is still called
the Pontifex Maximus. It’s a political or
governing office that has been in
existence and in perpetual use for nearly
3,000 years.
VESTIAL VIRIGNS

The priestesses of the goddess Vesta were
known as the Vestal Virgins. They were
responsible for maintaining the sacred fire
within the Temple of Vesta on the Forum
Romanum. Other duties included performing
rituals in regards to the Goddess Vesta, and
baking the sacred salt cake to be used at
numerous ceremonies in the year. They were
the only female priests within the roman
religious system. The head of the college of
Vesta was called the Virgo Vestalis Maxima, and
she was under the direct authority of the
Pontifex Maximus. The college of Vesta had
18 members, though 6 were considered actual
Vestal Virgins at any given time. They were
selected from distinguished patrician families at
an age from three to ten, and such
appointments were considered a top honor for
any family to receive. They each served thirty
years, the first ten years as novices, then ten
years as actual vestal virgins, and finally ten
years as supervisors responsible for training the
novices. After the thirty years of duty they were
released from their duties and could then
maintain a private life, including the right to
marry. For men, arranging a marriage with a
former vestal virgin was highly prestigious,
regardless of age or the ability to have children.

The vestals vowed to live in chastity for
the thirty years their tenure lasted. In
return they were allowed many privileges
not given to ordinary Roman women. As
one example, the vestals were not
subject to the pater potestas of their
fathers. Essentially they were allowed to
handle their own properties and engage
in legal contracts, they were allowed to
travel around the city in a carriage and
they had special seats in the front row at
the various games, where, in contrast
women were normally relegated to the
back seats. They were considered
inviolable and sacred and their blood
could not be spilt without fear of terrible
repercussion from the gods. So sacred
and divine-like were these priestesses,
that if a person sentenced to death met a
vestal virgin on his way to the execution,
he would be automatically pardoned. Of
course, special care would be taken to
prevent or to make sure this would
happen, depending on the circumstances.
DEATH OF A VIRGIN

While enjoying many benefits, including a
rather luxurious life in the House of Vestal
Virgins, punishment for breaking the rules
were severe. The punishment for breaking
the vow of chastity was death by burial alive
as this was the adopted to kill a vestal
without shedding her blood. Such executions
would take place in the "Evil Fields", or
Campus Sceleratus, just outside the Servian
Wall. Their lover would be flogged to death
on the Comitium. While these executions
took place several times, it was obviously a
rare event that carried all sorts of negative
omens with it. While the Pontifex Maximus
continues to the present day as an office of
the higher order in the Catholic Church, the
order of the vestals was disbanded in 394
AD, when non-Christian cults were banned by
Theodosius. The church, wisely trying to
keep the general population with a sense of
familiarity, readily adopted the use of
convents and position of nuns that held many
of the same rules and customs as the
Vestals.
READ TEXT AND ANSWER THE FOLLOWING
QUESTIONS AS STATEMENTS.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
What are the Dii Familiars?
What is the Lars Familiars?
Find 3 examples from the text write their name
and responsibility
What was the Roman reaction to other
religions?
Who was Mithra? What aspect of Roman life
worshipped her?
Why were the Christians presecuted?
Why is 392AD important in Roman religion?
Name the head priest of Roman Religion?
How was the Pontifex elected and what was
the length of his reign?
What was the Pontifex responsibilities?
Explain the hierarchy within the Pontifices
office.
The priestess for Vesta are…
Explain the duties of the VV…
How were they chosen and how long did they
serve?
Describe the privileges of the VV…
What would the punishment be for a VV?
What is a modern day VV?
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
They are the household gods
They are the guardian spirits
Forculus protected the door, Limentinus the threshold, Cardea the
hinges, and Vesta the hearth
They were accepting of other religions
The Persian god Mithra. Overwhelmingly supported in the
Legions/army, this deity offered eternal salvation for the immortal
soul
They would not worship the emperor as a god
Christianity become the official religion of Rome, all pagan religions
banned.
Pontifex Maximus
Elected by the Comitia Tributa and served for life
to provide the pax deorum, or the 'peace with the gods'.
Interpreting omens, sometimes through augures, controlling and
keeping the official calendar, and the oversight of funerals, He was
responsible for an enormous collection of omens (annales maximi)
16 pontifices under the high priest, 15 flamines, who were special
priests of the main deities, and the Rex Sacrorum (king of the
sacrifices) he was also responsible for the 18 Vestal Virgins
Vestial Virgins
VV’s were responsible for maintaining the sacred fire within the
Temple of Vesta on the Forum Romanum. Performing rituals in
regards to the Goddess Vesta, and baking the sacred salt cake
selected from distinguished patrician families , and served for 30
years
the vestals were not subject to the pater potestas of their fathers.
They were allowed to handle their own properties and engage in
legal contracts, they were allowed to travel around the city in a
carriage and they had special seats in the front row at the various
games
The punishment for breaking the vow of chastity was death by
burial alive as this was the adopted to kill a vestal without shedding
her blood
A nun