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Pre-Christian Thought
A Select Group of Western Belief Systems with
Prominence in the Roman Empire
Warning: One Rather Weird Artistic Image
Romans Are Religious People
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From its inception,
Rome held strong
respect for various gods
To hedge their bets, they
often worshipped all of
them
Conquered nations
would be welcome to
bring their gods along
with them
A HUGE Amount of Gods
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We can’t deal with
all of them
For instance, Romans
had Forculus, the
god of doors
This makes sense;
then as now, you
don’t want people
breaking into your
house
But Just In Case. . .
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In the event that
Forculus wasn’t up
to the task, Romans
could also call upon
Cardea for the
hinges, and
Limentinus for the
threshold
When It Came to Planting Corn
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The goddess Seia was in
charge of seeds under
the ground
The goddess Prosperina
was in charge of
germinating seeds
The goddess Segetia was
in charge of the plants
once they rose above the
ground
But That Wasn’t Enough. . .
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The god Nodotus was in
charge of joints and knots in
the stems of plants
The goddess Volutina was in
charge of the corn husks
The goddess Patelana was in
charge of the actual ears of
corn
The goddess Tutilina was in
charge of keeping the corn
safe once harvested and in
storage
You Get the Idea
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A complete list of
Roman gods would
be filled with so
much minutiae as to
render it largely
meaningless
So For Our Purposes
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We’re going to confine
ourselves to those
portions of Roman belief
that exist alongside
Judaism and which most
directly relate to, or even
perhaps influence,
Christianity
There are a few worthy
of mention
During the Second Punic War
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Rome was losing to
Hannibal and Carthage
It consulted Sybilline
books of prophecy that
suggested that Rome’s
enemies would leave
when the Magna Mater,
or “Great Mother” came
to Rome
Which Leads Us To Cybele
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Cybele is known in the
Middle East and in North
Africa at the time
She is considered the
Goddess and Mother of all
living things, and is
sometimes the goddess of
fertility, pictured with many
breasts for nursing
Her coming to Rome was
views as so important that
high-ranking diplomats went
east to get a black meteoric
stone, her symbol
When the Stone Came to Rome
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It was greeted at the port
of Ostia by none other
than Publius Cornelius
Scipio and mothers of
prominent families from
the city
The stone was brought
ashore on April 4, and
that day was
consecrated to the
worship of Cybele
The Worship of Cybele
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Became strictly
enforced by Roman
law
Rome hadn’t seen
anything like it
before, and they
hadn’t known what
they were getting
into
The Priests of Cybele
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Were not only required
to be eunuchs, but it was
required that they had to
perform the operation
on themselves
For the major festival,
priests blessed the
crowds by slashing their
own arms, spilling and
then drinking their own
blood
(NO
APPROPRIATE
PICTURES
AVAILABLE)
For Divination Purposes
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A bull was slaughtered
and allowed to bleed on
the worshipper below
Priests would then
interpret the bloodflow
to see if the wishes of the
worshipper would come
to pass
This rite was also used
on new worshippers,
who were allegedly
cleansed by the blood
Other Aspects of Cybele
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She had a lover and
consort, a male named
Attis
Attis was born of a
virgin mother on
December 25
Every spring, Attis died,
and was resurrected the
next morning
He is one of many gods
in Roman mythology to
come back from the
dead
Cybele’s Other Title
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Worshippers of
Cybele, when
speaking of her,
began to call her
Nostra Domina, or
“Our Lady”
This title would be
taken over several
centuries later by the
Virgin Mary
Even Before Cybele, There Was Isis
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This goddess came from
Egypt
Her worship came to
Greece in the 4th Century
B.C.E., to Sicily in the
3rd, to Italy in the 2nd,
and from there to all
parts of the Empire
Temples to Isis have
been found as far away
as London
Isis was Worshipped
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As a sorrowing mother
and a loving comforter,
but most importantly
she held the key to
eternal life
Her husband Osiris had
been killed, but also rose
from the dead, and from
there he went to rule
over the Field of Reeds,
or the Afterlife
Osiris’ Resurrection
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Was also celebrated
every spring, with
massive amounts of
pageantry
Isis grants her faithful
the chance to visit Osiris
in the Afterlife, while
staying in this world to
be mother to her son
Horus
Her Biggest Draw
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Were the honors and
opportunities for
women
Isis’ worship allowed
women a prominent
role, and provided
comfort to women of
Rome
She became known by
the title of “Mother of
God,” another title that
will be given to the
Virgin Mary
Then, in 146 B.C.E.
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The Punic and Macedonian Wars ended
with the destruction of Carthage and of
Corinth
In the east, Rome became far more greatly
exposed to Greek philosophy, and for a
time seemed to move away from the old
religions
This Isn’t Philosophy Class
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But we need to take a very quick look at
the major philosophies that come to
Rome at this time
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Hedonism
Epicureanism
Cynicism
Stoicism
Skepticism
Hedonism
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Says that pleasure is
the only good
The responsibility of
each individual is to
seek whatever will
give them pleasure
This can be fame and
fortune or a simple
walk in the woods
You Can See Where It Comes From
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Hedonism is very much a “live for today” type
of philosophy
To the Greeks at this time, it makes sense –
they’ve had art, law, science, democracy, and a
Golden Age, and now they are subject to Rome
If all of the finer things can and do fade away,
then immediate gratification is perhaps the only
thing left for which to live
Epicureanism
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Is based off the
teachings of Epicurus
Like the hedonists,
Epicurus states that the
goal of life is to gain
pleasure
However, he advocates a
simple life full of simple
pleasures, not the wild
possibilities that
Hedonism allows
The Simple Life
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Is quite popular among
Romans who feel that Rome
has lost its way
They wish to go back to a
time when Romans were
farmer/soldiers, and the
traditional Roman virtues
such a time implied
The growth of the Empire, for
them, has led them away
from what had made Rome
great in the first place
Cynicism
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Also coming from the
Greeks, Cynicism is
similar to Hedonism in
that it is a philosophy of
consolation
Again Greece has been
ransacked by what
many Greeks feel are
militaristic idiots from
Rome
Cynics take on all of
civilization, and declare
that society itself is evil
Basically Speaking
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The world is
fundamentally evil
To live properly, we
must reject society and
withdraw from
participating in it
Salvation is found not
through society and its
concepts of law and
government, but is
rather dependent upon
ourselves
Asceticism
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Pushed by Cynics
A precept that salvation
or enlightenment can
only be found by living
simply off the land, as
far as possible removed
from human contact
Basically, it’s mental
health and happiness by
becoming a hermit
Stoicism
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A very popular preChristian philosophy
Basically, the key is
to be indifferent to
external happenings
If we can do this, we
are considered “free
people” or
independent of the
world
For Example
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You can’t be insulted unless you agree to be
If someone tries to hurt your feelings, and you
agree to be hurt, you’ve given away your power
But if you are indifferent to that person, their
words, and their opinion of you, then nothing
that person says can hurt you; you’re free of
them, and you keep the power in that situation
Stoics Also Believe
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In Determinism
That is, everything
has been put in place
by a higher power
with a plan
We can’t alter the
plan; our job is to
accept it with grace
and humility
Skepticism
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Like Stoicism, this
has been around for
a while when
Romans find it
As the name implies,
this is simply a
branch of philosophy
that refrains from
making any truth
claims
Don’t Claim Truth is Impossible
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Because that, in and
of itself, would be a
truth claim
Rather skepticism
approaches the
world through
empiricism (gaining
knowledge from the
senses) and through
inductive reasoning
With Inductive Reasoning
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We can never be 100%
certain
If we observe 100
starfish, and they all
have five arms, we can
conclude that all starfish
have five arms
But at any point new
information might come
up that might disprove
us
Therefore, truth is
unknowable
Greek Philosophy
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Will have a profound impact on Rome, in
that it get them to question their
established beliefs, including religious
ones
It is not a coincidence that Rome
conquers Greece in 146 B.C.E., and by 136
B.C.E. the Republic is declining into civil
war
When Those Wars are Over
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The Emperor
Augustus has won
He starts a massive
push to return Rome
to its traditional
religious roots,
believing that is the
best tactic to ensure
the survival of his
new method of rule
And This Worked
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Which again makes
sense historically –
worship of the gods had
led Rome to military
success and empire
Setting the gods aside to
favor philosophy had
led to revolution, strife,
civil war, and the end of
the Republic
Augustus had brought
peace, and Augustus
worshipped gods
What
Would
Augustus
Do?
For the Most Part
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The Roman poor
turned back to the
gods
The Roman rich
and/or educated
tended to hedge their
bets, studying
philosophy but
worshipping the
gods
When Religious Emphasis Returns
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The new gods seem
to be crowding out
the old such as
Jupiter and Juno
In terms of number
of worshippers,
Cybele and Isis seem
to be growing faster
than other faiths
And the Gods Just Kept Coming
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Increasingly, those gods
came from the east,
where Rome is doing
most of its conquering
Tammuz came from
Syria
Depicted as a shepherd,
he died and was
resurrected, celebrated
by worshippers chanting
“the Lord is risen”
Later, he ascended to
heaven
From Cappadocia
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Came the goddess Ma
Her priests slashed
themselves and then
twirled furiously,
spraying their blood on
the devotees, which was
supposed to wash them
and give them Ma’s
blessing
From Parthia
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Comes Mithras
Mithras is a far more
masculine cult than
others, and most of
his followers were
soldiers, who
discovered the faith
during various
campaigns against
Parthia
A Product of Zoroastrianism
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Zoroaster (also called
Zarathustra) was a
Babylonian prophet
who allegedly began
teaching in the 6th
Century B.C.E.
He is among the first
to portray the
possibility of
everlasting life
Light vs. Darkness
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Zoroastrianism portrays
the world as a constant
struggle between light
and dark
Mithras is the son of
Ahura-Mazda, who is
the God of Light
He is also the God of
Light, and upon being
born is as powerful as
his father
Basic Tenets of Mithraism
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Mithras is the god of
light, truth, honor,
purity, and the sun
The seventh day of each
week (Sun-day) was
held sacred to the sungod
During Sunday
ceremonies, worshippers
would partake of
consecrated bread and
wine
Anyone Could Serve Mithras
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But elevation into
priestly roles depended
upon celibacy
Women could not
become priests, but
could also serve – they
must remain celibate as
ceremonial brides of
Mithras
Onward, Mithraic Soldiers
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Mithraism preached
a great deal of
morality, referred to
its followers as
“soldiers,” and said
all of its followers
must pledge to a
lifelong fight against
evil in all of its forms
Upon Death
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All men appear before
Mithras in a time of
Judgment
If unworthy, unclean souls
are handed to Ahriman,
the god of darkness, who
will torture them forever
If worthy, they will pass
through seven spheres,
shedding mortality at each,
until they join AhuraMazda in Paradise
The Most Sacred Ceremony
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Was held at the Winter Solstice, which
most ancient calendars placed on
December 25
At this time, worshippers celebrated the
birthday of Mithras as the “Invincible
Sun” – the god of light who had beaten
back darkness, as days would begin to
once again grow longer from this point
A Number of Historians Believe
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That it is no great leap from the birthday of the
“Invincible Sun” (a.k.a. Mithras) to the birthday
of the “Invincible Son” (a.k.a. Jesus)
Indeed, many early Christian fathers were
shocked at how much Mithraism had in
common with their own faith
Christians claimed Mithraism had stolen
various elements from them, and/or that the
similarities were stratagems of Satan to confuse
Christians
It is Impossible to Know
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If Christianity stole
from Mithraism, or
vice versa, or if both
simply reflected
religious feelings in
the east at that time
However, there is no
question that of the
two faiths,
Mithraism came first
Commonalities of New Faiths
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Isis, Cybele, and
Mithras were
probably the biggest
of the new faiths
moving into Roman
thought at this time
All three shared
some similarities that
people of Rome
seemed to like
First: Some Divine Son/Consort
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Isis had her son
Horus
Cybele had her lover
Attis
Mithras was the son
of the god AhuraMazda, and was a
god himself upon his
birth
Second: Afterlife
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Following Isis meant
you could live forever
with Osiris in the Field
of Reeds
Following Cybele meant,
like Attis, you could be
resurrected
Following Mithras could
lead you to Paradise at
the side of Ahura-Mazda
Third: Magic
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All three faiths
provided for the
possibility of
miracles, oracles,
magicians, astrology,
and interpretation of
dreams
Those that practiced
such things were
known as Magi
Fourth: Open to Anyone
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Though each tended to have their own
type of followers (women gravitated to
Isis and Cybele, soldiers to Mithras), all
three faiths were classless, raceless, and
accepted all comers into the faith
Temples were made bigger to
accommodate all of the people who
wished to worship, which would
translate very nicely into the church
Fifth: Meritocracy
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Priesthoods were
open to anyone who
studied and moved
through a novitiate
period, not given to
politicians as an
elected office or only
to those who were of
a certain bloodline
Sixth: Ritual
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All three had various
ceremonies and
pageantry in which
worshippers got
involved
This appeals to a
worshipper’s
emotion, as they feel
they are more a part
of the faith
Seventh: Appeal to the Masses
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Anyone could worship; anyone could
take part; anyone could rise to priesthood
(in some cases, even women)
Anyone could receive eternal life and
endless happiness after their toil in this
life was done
Most Romans are the working poor and
the unemployed; the promise of a better
tomorrow looked very good today
The Mass of Roman People
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Find this last part
irresistibly attractive
It is why they like
the eastern faiths,
and part of why they
will embrace the
Christianity that
eventually will
summarize, absorb,
and conquer them