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Roman Religion
What was the origin of Roman religion?
 Most of the Roman gods and goddesses were a blend of several religious influences.
 Before Rome became a big city, the area around it, called Latium, was settled by
villagers (called Latins) who believed in many gods and spirits who were assimilated
into the Roman Religion.
 The gods of the Etruscans who lived in what is modern day Tuscany also contributed
to the Roman family of gods.
 Many were also introduced via the Greek colonies of southern Italy.
 In many cases the Romans found that there was a Latin and Greek god for one and the
same thing. They tended to take two and make them one: Vulcan was the old Latin
god of fire, but the Greeks had a god called Hephaistos who was very similar but
portrayed as a blacksmith; the Romans just mixed the two together and made them
one. However, statues of Vulcan usually show him as a blacksmith.
What was the Pantheon?
 The Romans had hundreds of different gods. This entire collection of all their gods
was called the Pantheon.
Who were the main Roman gods?
Juppiter
He was the master of the gods and the main god of the Romans. In his hand he held
thunderbolts which he could hurl from the sky.
Juno
She was Juppiter’s wife, the goddess of women, marriage and fertility. Her symbols were
a peacock and pomegranate
Mars
He was the god of war, the strongest and most fearsome god, except for Juppiter
Venus
She was the goddess of love and beauty
Minerva
She was the goddess of wisdom, learning, art crafts and industry. Her symbol was the
owl.
Neptune
He was the powerful god of the sea. His symbol was the trident
Ceres
She was the goddess of the harvest, always depicted carrying a bundle of grain
Vulcan
He was the blacksmith of the gods and a god of the underworld. If he stoked his furnace
too hard, volcanoes might erupt.
Diana
She was the goddess of hunting and a goddess of the moon.
Bacchas
He was the god of wine and partying. Naturally, he was one of Rome’s most popular
gods
Mercury
He was the messenger of the gods. The wings on his helmet and sandals allowed him to
travel very quickly. Hewas the god of travellers and tradesmen
Apollo
He was a Greek god and the Romans adopted him without changing his name. Although
often associated with sun, Apollo was really the god of healing, prophecy (oracles), the
arts - especially music - and archery.
Pan
He was the Greek god of the mountains and by extension of nature, half goat and
half man. He is always depicted carrying pipes.
What was the ‘numen’?
The nod that Juppiter gave assenting to an action was his ‘numen’.
It thus became to signify divine will.
Who was the goddess ‘Roma’?
 ‘Roma’ was the deity personifying the Roman state. She first appeared on Roman
coins in 269 BC.
 Augustus encouraged the worship of Roma in the provinces (although she did later on
gain a temple in Rome itself). She is, therefore, chiefly a provincial goddess, used to
inculcate loyalty among the provincials.
 Many temples were built in the provinces in her honour, often as a ‘Temple of Rome
and Augustus’ to make the imperial cult and emperor worship more palatable. In this
way he deified the concept of Rome.
 Thus, outside of Italy, worship of the emperor was usually linked to the worship of the
goddess ‘ Roma’.
What was the ‘genius’?
 The Romans believed that every living being had a ‘genius’ or protecting spirit. It was
the vital energy and generative power inherent in life. When Romans celebrated their
birthday, they celebrated their ‘genius’.
 People in the provinces were encouraged to worship the ‘genius’ of the emperor,
linked with the goddess ‘Roma’ - another method of promoting emperor worship.
What was the ‘pax deorum’?
 Literally this was the ‘peace of the gods’
 The object of Roman religion was to secure the cooperation or benevolence of the
gods, namely the ‘pax deorum’
What was the ‘jus divinum’?
 The Romans believed that divine help would help them to master those unknown
forces which inspired awe and anxiety (this is the origin of the word ‘religio’ : that
which inspires awe and anxiety). Consequently there arose a body of rules, the ‘jus
divinum’ (divine law), ordaining what should be done or avoided in order to secure
the co-operation of the gods.
Who were the ‘lares’?
 They were the Roman guardian spirits (or strictly speaking the genii) of the house.
They were originally the spirits of the fields and in ancient roman religion were
worshipped at crossroads where small towers were built to honour them and offerings
were left for them on altars.
 The ‘lares’ were worshipped in small sanctuaries or shrines called a ‘lararium’,
which could be found in every Roman house. They were usually placed in the atrium
or in the perystilium of the house. Small figurines of the gods were placed in the
shrine or else there would be a painting of them.
 Daily prayers, led by the ‘pater familias’ would have been said at the ‘lararium’. Small
offerings of food would also often be placed in the shrine.
 The ‘lares’ are usually depicted as dancing youths, with a horn cup in one hand and a
bowl in the other. They were often accompanied by symbolic phallic serpents (the cult
of the ‘lares’ is probably derived from the worshipping of the deceased master of the
family).
The household lares in
the house of Vetii
brothers in Pompeii
Who were the ‘penates’?
These were also guardian spirits of the household. Originally they were the patron gods
of the storeroom or pantry.
The worship of the ‘penates’ centered on the hearth and the family meal: small offerings
of food would be thrown on the hearth. The ‘penates’ are closely related to Vesta, the
goddess of the hearth.
The Roman state had its own ‘penates’, called the ‘Penates Publici’. Aeneas rescued the
penates from the burning city of Troy and carried them to Italy where he founded Rome.
The penates were housed in the temple of Vesta in the Roman forum.
The worship of the ‘penates’ is closely related to that of the ‘lares’ and gradually they
changed into the patron gods of the entire household.
Isis
Who was the goddess Isis?
 Isis was one of Egypt’s oldest and most important goddesses.
 Isis was the goddess of rebirth or the giver of new life. The Egyptians worshipped her
for her power to give new life. They believed she was responsible for the new life
which followed the annual flooding of the Nile waters, and that she offered a hope of
life after death for those who became her followers.
 The cult of Isis is one of the most important examples of a ‘mystery religion’
 Her name literally means ‘(female) of the throne, that is Queen of the throne.Tis is
why she is usually portrayed with the emblem of a throne on her head.
 She was the wife (and sister) of the god Osiris and their son was called Horus
What ceremony is associated with Isis?
Women in white dresses wore garlands of spring flowers and threw blossoms along the
road where the procession was passing. Then came others carrying sacred emblems,
followed by the sounds of flutes and pipes … Next came a chorus noble young men,
chanting a beautiful song … There came too trumpeters of Serapis, playing his him.
Then came the followers of Isis, men and women of all social classes and ages, shining
in their pure white dress.
(Apuleius: Metamorphoses)
 The festival of Isis held at the beginning of spring.
 It took place annually on 5th March, when the sailing season begun and the large grain
ships so crucial to Rome’s food supply, could once again set off safely across the
Mediterranean. It also coincided with the flooding of the Nile and the new life that
followed – or the rebirth with which Isis is associated.
 A statue of Isis was carried in a procession down the great Harbour. The procession
was headed by dancers and musicians, playing pipes, trumpets and castanets. Female
attendants scattered roses in the roadway and over the crowd. The statue was carried
high upon the shoulders of her priests so all the crowd could see her. Next came more
priests and more trumpeters and finally the high priest, wearing garlands of roses and
shaking a sacred rattle known as a ‘sistrum’. At the harbour, a special newly built ship
was moored. Its stern was shaped like a goose’s neck and was covered with gold plate.
First the high priest dedicated the ship to Isis and offered prayers; then the priests
loaded it with gifts of spices and flowers; finally the mooring ropes were unfastened
and the wind carried the ship out to sea. After the ceremony the statue of Isis was
carried back to her temple. There a priest read to the people from a sacred book,
recited prayers for the safety of the Roman people and their emperor, and for sailors
and ships.
Who was Serapis?
 Serapis was an invented god, a fusion of Osiris, various Greek deities and the bull god
Apis (the ancient Egyptians believed that the bull represented the personality of the
king: his strength, virility and fighting spirit). When Egypt fell under the rule of the
Ptomelies, Serapis was invented to unify the Greeks and the Egyptians.
 He was declared the god of fertility and the underworld.
 Serapis is usually represented as a man wearing a Greek style robe with a Greek
hairstyle and full beard. Surmounting his head was often a basket or a tall, dry corn
measure (holding a quarter of a bushel), representing his role as god of fertility and
guardian of the harvest.
The worship of Isis was known as a mystery religion. What did this involve?
 A mystery religion is a religious organization or cult which is focused mainly on a
single deity. This deity usually had something which it could offer the to the
individual member of society and the cult generated a sense of community and a
salvation theme. The ceremonies of ‘mystery’ religions or cults were always kept
secret and more importantly, would-be members had to participate in an initiation
ceremony in order to belong to the cult.
 The Egyptians would go and pray at the temple of Isis and make offerings to her
statue.
 There was also a ‘brotherhood of Isis’; to become a member of this brotherhood
involved a long period of preparation leading up to an initiation ceremony in the
temple.
 This preparation started with an act of repentance for past sins: this might consist of a
sacrifice, a pilgrimage or abstinence from food – fasting. Then the body was washed
by the priests in a ceremony of baptism; next the person was taught about the sacred
mysteries of the goddess, and forbidden to reveal them to anyone outside the
brotherhood; then he fasted for ten days before finally undergoing the initiation
ceremony in the temple. This was a ceremony of mystery and magic, full of strange
and emotional experiences for the worshippers
What evidence do we have that the worship of Isis spread across the Roman empire?
7.11.3 Isis was also worshipped outside Egypt, and this inscription was found in
London, in what was probably an inn.
Londini ad fanum Isidis
(In London next door to the temple of Isis)
The worship of Isis spread from Alexandria across the ancient world. Temples to Isis
have been found in places as far apart as London and the black sea. A group of priests
serving in the temple of Isis in Pompeii suffered a horrible death when the city was
destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius: having collected as many valuables from the
temple that they could carry, they fled the city only to be overwhelmed by the eruption.
Their bodies were found along the route of their flight across the city, each corpse
surrounded by the valuables he had tried to save.
Why do think the worship of Isis appealed to the Romans?
 The Romans adopted a policy of incorporating the gods of the peoples they conquered
into their own religion as a way of unifying their empire and ensuring the loyalty of
the conquered peoples. Adopting the goddess Isis is an example of this.
 The worship of the goddess Isis would have been even more attractive because her
worshippers believed that by dedicating themselves to her, they could hope for life
after death.
 Romans were also attracted by the dramatic initiation ceremonies with all their
magical and secret rites.
What similarities can you find between the worship of Isis and either Christianity or
another religion of today?
 The images of the goddess Isis suckling her son Horus are a very strong evocation of
the many pictures of the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus in her arms. The
worship and veneration of Mary is very similar to that of Isis.
 The worshippers of Isis wore white which symbolizes purity or chastity, an attribute
associated with Mary and Jesus; the latter is almost always depicted in white robes.
 The ceremony of washing the body mirrors the baptism in the Christian religion.
 The fasting that characterized the ceremony of initiation is also another characteristic
of Christianity. In both cases the fasting was a way of repenting for past sins.
 The worship of Isis promised eternal life or life after death in the same way as
Christianity.
What was ‘Mithraism’?
 Mithaisim was another foreign cult like that of Isis and it too came from the east:
Mithras was a god of Persia
 It was another example of a mystery religion or cult
 Mithras was a god of light and truth, who triumphed over the forces of evil
 His followers were, like those of Isis, promised life after death
 His powers are summed up in the story of his chief exploit: the capture and killing of a
mighty bull, whose blood had the power to give new life: from the bull’s body grew
useful plants and herbs, from its blood came the vine and from its semen all useful
animals. This bull-slaying scene – known as tauroctony – is to be found either as a
painting or as a relief in all Mithraea (Temples of Mithras)
 There were seven grades of initiation into Mithraism, each with its own secret
ceremony, involving tests and ordeals of various kinds: only men were allowed to be
members. Lying in a pit formed part of one ceremony; branding may have formed part
of another
Why were Isis and Mithras referred to as ‘saviour’ gods?
They both offered the hope of life after death as indeed did Christianity.
The Priesthood
What was the structure of the priesthood in the early republic?
 After the expulsion of the kings, precedence among Roman priests belonged to
the rex sacrorum (‘king of the sacred rites’).
 This priesthood was created to replace the role performed by the kings and
although he controlled all things connected with religion, he was specifically
barred from holding political office
How were priests divided during the Republic?
• Roman religious affairs under the republic were conducted by a variety of priests
organised by the kind of rituals they performed.
• These organisations were called ‘Colleges’
What was the role of the ‘flamines’?
 The ‘flamines’, who also probably date back to the earliest origins of Roman
religion, were the priests of particular cults, the major ones being the ‘flamines’ of
Juppiter, Mars and Quirinus
What was the College of Pontifices?
• This was one of the four chief colleges and had the most complex structure.
• They oversaw the organisation of religious events
• They controlled the ‘flamines’, the rex sacrorum and the Vestal virgins.
• Unlike the other colleges, they elected a leader: the ‘pontifex maximus’.
• Eventually this became a publically elected office and then was taken over by the
emperor
Who were the ‘augurs’?
 The college of ‘augurs’ consisted of 15 members
 They had the responsibility of discovering whether or not the gods approved of an
action.
 They did this by interpreting divine signs in the movement of birds (sometimes
sacred chickens). They would note the direction of the flight, how many birds etc
 Such attempts to discover the future were called ‘divination’
Who were the ‘quindecimviri sacris faciundus’?
 The ‘College of Fifteen’ as this was translated, was the group of priests who
looked after ‘sacred things’
 They were in charge of the Sybelline books which the Romans believed contained
the oracles of heaven and which they consulted in times of calamity and
impending danger.
 They were also charged the celebration of secular games.
 Augustus was ‘inter alia’ a member of this college.
The Pontifex Maximus
Who or what was the ‘pontifex maximus’?
 The Pontifex Maximus was the chief or high priest in Roman society. He was in fact
the chief priest of the college of ‘pontifices’, the most powerful of all the colleges of
priests
 In the early republic, the Pontifex Maximus was elected by the priests themselves.
 The position eventually became politicized: after the 3rd century BC the office was
publicly elected.
 Julius Caesar actively sought and won the office early in his career.
 Augustus also became pontifex maximus as did all emperors after him. He had many
religious duties:
“I have been Pontifex Maximus, augur, a member of the College of fifteen for
performing sacrifices, a member of the College of seven for conducting banquets
and a member of the Arval brotherhood”.
(The achievements of the deified Augustus:7)
The Cult of the Emperor
When was the first Roman ruler deified?
 The Romans began the practice of deifying their dead rulers with Julius Caesar.
Before he died, Caesar received the right to have a flamen for a cult in his honour,
to mark his house like a temple and to place his ‘imago’ in the procession of the
gods that featured in Roman parades and festivals.
 After he died, the Senate passed a decree formally deifying Caesar and altars and
temples were erected to him.
 A ‘flamen’ was a priest with the responsibility for the worship of a god or
goddess in Roman religion
Why did the Romans accept the deification of Caesar so easily?
 Although the deification of their ruler would certainly have seemed novel to the
inhabitants of Rome, his assimilation to divine status would have seemed quite
normal to the peoples of the eastern empire who had always regarded their kings
and rulers as divine, and were equally ready to pay divine honours to the Roman
emperors.
 The fact that he was deified after his death would have meant that Romans would
have not felt directly threatened by such an action.
“The peoples in the Eastern Roman empire had always thought of their rulers as
divine, so it seemed natural to worship the Roman emperor as god”.
Source material 7.3.1
In what way was Augustus so skillful in exploiting the cult of the emperor?
 Augustus was brilliant in the way he aligned religious authority with political:
while Augustus allowed himself to be associated with numerous rites and cult

activities e.g., his membership of the various colleges of priests’, there was no
single ceremony such as a coronation where he was the dominant actor.
Indeed, Augustus never personally claimed divine status during his lifetime.
How did Augustus use the goddess ‘Roma’ to enhance the power of the empire?
 ‘ROMA’ was the deity personifying the Roman state.
 Augustus, however, encouraged the worship of Roma in the provinces (although
she did later on gain a temple in Rome itself).
 Many temples were built in the provinces in her honour, often as a ‘Temple of
Rome and Augustus’ to make the imperial cult and emperor worship more
palatable.
 Thus, outside of Italy, worship of the emperor was usually linked to the worship
of the goddess ‘ Roma’.
What was the ‘genius’?
 The Romans believed that every living being had a ‘genius’ or protecting spirit.
 People in the provinces were encouraged to worship the ‘genius’ of the emperor,
linked with the goddess ‘Roma’ - another method of promoting emperor
worship.
What was the ‘numen’?
 The nod that Juppiter gave assenting to an action was called his ‘numen’.
 It thus became to signify divine will or the power of a deity.
 Augustus organised public worship of his ‘numen’ which represented the godhead
or divine power of a living emperor - another example of emperor worship.
Why did Augustus never explicitly say that he was a god?
 The Roman political system did not approve of a living emperor declaring
himself a god (no doubt as a result of their dislike of an all powerful head of
state).
 The emperor Caligula made the mistake of claiming to be a god during his
lifetime. This action was described by contemporary historians as an example of
his dementia.
 This is why Augustus was careful to never explicitly to declare himself a god
although he walked a very fine line in this respect.
Why did Romans encourage the worship of emperors as gods?
• People were more likely to submit to Roman rule if they regarded the supreme
ruler as a god
• It reduced, as a result, the chances of uprisings
• It gave many people in the provinces a sense that they belonged to one great
empire
• It was very popular amongst the upper and middle classes who looked to Rome to
promote their careers
Did this cult of the Emperor always have the desired effect?
 The temple at Colchester dedicated to the deified emperor Claudius was regarded
by the Britons as a symbol of eternal oppression, and the priests used religion as
an excuse to waste British money.
 Boudicca raised this temple to the ground when she rebelled against Roman
occupation
This is a model of the temple
of the deified emperor at
Colchester.
It and the temple at Bath are
the only examples in Britain of
temples in the classical style
What was a haruspex?
 A haruspex had special powers to advise on the meaning of omens such as the
flight of birds or the internal organs of sacrificed animals, especially the liver.
 He would have been consulted before an important event or proposed course of
action to see if it was an auspicious moment.
What is a ‘defixio’?
 This is curse tablet. It is a small sheet of lead or pewter inscribed with a curse.
Many of these curses were written backwards to increase the mystery of the
process.