Roman religion, the religious beliefs and practices of the people of ancient Rome. The spirits were held in awe and were placated with offerings and prayers.

Origins and Development

The indigenous Italic religion, which was the nucleus of the religion of ancient Rome, was essentially animistic. It depended on the belief that forces or spirits, called numina (sing., numen), existed in natural objects and controlled human destiny.

In the beginning of the historical period, when Italy was dotted with small agricultural communities, the family and the household were the basic religious units. Everything vital to the continuance of human life had its numen and appropriate rite. For the perpetuity of the family, the Italian farmer made offerings to the genius genius, in Roman religion, guardian spirit of a man, a family, or a state. In some instances, a place, a city, or an institution had its genius. As the guardian spirit of an individual, the genius (corresponding to the Greek demon) was largely the force of one's
..... Click the link for more information. of the family. For the safety of the household he worshiped Vesta Vesta, in Roman religion and mythology, hearth goddess. She was highly honored in every household from early times to the beginning of Christianity. Her public cult maintained a sacred building in which her priestesses, the vestal virgins, tended the communal hearth
..... Click the link for more information. , the guardian spirit of the hearth fire; the lares lares (lâr`ēz), in Roman religion, guardian spirits.
..... Click the link for more information. and penates penates (pənā`tēz), in Roman religion, household gods, primarily guardians of the storeroom.
..... Click the link for more information. , guardians of the house; and Janus Janus (jā`nəs), in Roman religion, god of beginnings. He was one of the principal Roman gods, the custodian of the universe.
..... Click the link for more information. , guardian of the door. To protect the boundaries of his property he honored Terminus Terminus (tûr`mĭnəs)
..... Click the link for more information. . To insure an abundant harvest he held various festivals throughout the year. To placate the spirits of the dead he made offerings to the lemures lemures (lĕm`ərās', –yərēz'), in Roman religion, vampirelike ghosts of the dead; also called larvae.
..... Click the link for more information. , to the manes manes (mā`nēz), in Roman religion, spirits of the dead.
..... Click the link for more information. , and to the deities of the underworld. In performing these religious ceremonies the head of the family acted as the priest and was assisted by his sons and daughters.

When these families coalesced into tribes and then a state, the family cult and ritual formed the basis of the state cult and ritual. Vesta had a community hearth, the penates a community storeroom, Janus a holy door in the Forum. Rome, which was theoretically one family, was ruled by its king, who as such was head of the family and chief priest. The king was assisted in his duties by his "sons and daughters," the colleges of priests and priestesses. They elaborated and recorded the rituals necessary for the propitiation of the gods and regulated the state ceremonies and the ceremonial calendar. The official clergy included the pontifex maximus pontifex maximus (pŏn`tĭfĕks măk`sĭməs)
..... Click the link for more information. , the rex sacrorum [king of the sacred rites], the pontifices, the flamens (see flamen flamen (flā`mĕn), in Roman religion, one of 15 priests, each concerned with the cult of a particular deity.
..... Click the link for more information. ), and the vestal virgins.

Influence of Greek and Middle Eastern Culture

In the earliest period of Roman state religion, Jupiter Jupiter, in Roman religion and mythology, the supreme god, also called Jove. Originally a sky deity associated with rain and agriculture, he developed into the great father god, prime protector of the state, concerned, like the Greek Zeus (with whom he is
..... Click the link for more information. , Mars Mars, in Roman religion and mythology, god of war. In early Roman times he was a god of agriculture, but in later religion (when he was identified with the Greek Ares ) he was primarily associated with war.
..... Click the link for more information. , and Quirinus Quirinus (kwĭr`ĭnəs), in Roman religion, an early god, possibly of war.
..... Click the link for more information. were the supreme triad. The Romans, however, tolerant of new gods and religions (provided that no harm was done to the state as such), adopted many foreign gods. Under the influence of the Etruscans and other Italic communities, new gods began to appear about the 7th cent. B.C. A wider and much more significant influence, however, was that of the Greek and Middle Eastern cults from about the 3d cent. B.C. Old Roman deities were equated with the Greek gods and accordingly endowed with their attributes and myths. Such important cults as the worship of Dionysus Dionysus (dīənī`səs), in Greek religion and mythology, god of fertility and wine.
..... Click the link for more information. and Apollo Apollo (əpŏl`ō), in Greek religion and mythology, one of the most important Olympian gods, concerned especially with prophecy,
..... Click the link for more information. were brought to Rome. Greek philosophy, particularly that of the Epicureans (see Epicurus Epicurus (ĕpĭkyr`əs), 341–270 B.C., Greek philosopher, b.
..... Click the link for more information. ) and the Stoics (see Stoicism Stoicism (stō`ĭsĭzəm), school of philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium (in Cyprus) c.300 B.C.
..... Click the link for more information. ), began to influence Roman religious thought.

In the last two centuries of the republic—when the old basis of Roman religion had lost much of its importance, and when the state had grown so massive and distant that its ceremonies failed to satisfy the populace—religious feeling rapidly degenerated. The people, needing a new and emotionally more satisfying religion, turned toward the religious mysteries and the Middle Eastern cults. The most prominent were those of the Great Mother (see Cybele Cybele (sĭb`əlē), in ancient Asian religion, the Great Mother Goddess .
..... Click the link for more information. ), Isis Isis (ī`sĭs), nature goddess whose worship, originating in ancient Egypt, gradually extended throughout the lands of the
..... Click the link for more information. and Osiris Osiris (ōsī`rĭs), in Egyptian religion , legendary ruler of predynastic Egypt and god of the underworld.
..... Click the link for more information. , Sol Sol (sŏl), in Roman religion, sun god. An ancient god of Mesopotamian origin, he was introduced (c.
..... Click the link for more information. , and Mithra Mithraism. This was one of the great religions of the Roman Empire, and in the 2d cent. A.D. it was more general than Christianity. Mithraism found widest favor among the Roman legions, for whom Mithra (or Mithras in Latin and Greek) was the ideal divine comrade and fighter.
..... Click the link for more information. . Old Roman worship had been controlled, impersonal, and concerned with matters of the everyday world. The new cults, which centered around the individual, promised personal salvation and blessed afterlife. It was in this religious air that Christianity took root and eventually triumphed.

Bibliography

See W. R. Halliday, Lectures on the History of Roman Religion (1922); F. Altheim, A History of Roman Religion (1938); H. J. Rose, Ancient Roman Religion (1959).

Roman religion

Religious beliefs of the Romans from ancient times until official acceptance of Christianity in the 4th century AD. The Romans believed that everything was subordinate to the rule of the gods, and the object of their religion was to secure divine cooperation and benevolence. Prayer and sacrifice were used to propitiate the gods and were often carried out at temples dedicated to particular divinities and presided over by priests (see flamen). The chief Roman priest, head of the state religion, was known as the pontifex maximus; notable among the other groups of priests were the augurs, who practiced divination to determine whether the gods approved of an action. The earliest Roman gods were the sky god Jupiter, the war god Mars, and Quirinus; other important early gods were Janus and Vesta. Many other deities were borrowed from Greek religion or associated with Greek gods, and the stories woven into Roman mythology were often taken directly from Greek mythology. Domestic shrines were devoted to divine ancestors or protectors, the Lares and Penates. Dead Roman emperors were also raised to the status of divinities and were regarded with veneration and gratitude.