Religion

   Religion By Andrew O.   Roman religion was an amazing religion. There were hundreds and thousands of gods. Each god or goddess controlled an aspect of life. The Roman gods were based on Greek gods. Every god ruled there own aspect of life.

Romans were pagans. Pagans were people who believed in more than one god. The Romans prayed to two main groups of gods, Lores and Pinnates. Lores were the types of gods who protected homes and the Pinnates protected food.

Many Romans worshiped gods and goddesses at home because they weren’t wealthy enough to go to a church or a religious building. Each home had a shrine where Romans prayed daily. Romans sacrificed milk, fruit, cheese, cake, flower, sheep, and other types of food or drink. Farmers worshiped the spirits living around them to keep the nature gods and goddesses happy. Romans were very superstitious so they did many religious things. The Romans believed the gods and goddesses used the Romans to spread religion, and civilization. Romans believed that the gods and goddesses had power over everything. Roman states controlled the religion of their state. The Romans started to follow many different countries’ religions like Egypt, and Cybele’s religion.

The Roman god, Jupiter, was based on the Greek god, Zeus, and was the main god of the Roman gods. The Roman god Juno was based on the Greek god Hera. Juno looked after women and school children, she represented women, and marriage. Her symbol was the cow. Minerva was the goddess of wisdom. Mars was the god of war. Saturn was the god of time. Diana was the goddess of nature. She protected children and animals. Janus was the goddess of doorways and she was also the main goddess of homes.

The two types of gods were powerful gods and house hold gods. An example of a powerful god is Jupiter, an example of a house hold god is Plutus. An emperor god was an emperor who died and was declared a god. Augustus was declared an emperor god by Tiberius the emperor after him.

Funeral games were very fun to watch for the Romans. The games were usually chariot races or gladiator fights. The people who raced or fought in these games were criminals. These games were in honor of the dead. There were many different types of sacrifices. An example of a type of sacrifice is: Step1 kill an animal, Step 2 take out it’s internal organs, Step 3 examine the organs, Step 4 burn the organs on an altar, Step 5 cook the rest of the animal and serve it to followers. Romans believed they must satisfy a spirit after the person dies so they would not be haunted. When Romans prayed to the dead it was a way of showing respect. Divination was telling the future, finding the will of gods, or to ward off anger. Roman Priests just were not priests, they had other jobs too because priests did not get paid when they were priests. The priest Flamen Dialis was the main priest, he was also the priest of Jupiter. Priests were also called pontifices. Priests knew when religious events or sacrifices were taking place.

Capitolinus was the earliest temple in Rome. The temple was built in 509 B.C. The temple was built in honor of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. It was rebuilt and damaged many times, but then in 455 A.D it was finally destroyed for good.

The emperor who changed Roman religion forever was Constantine. (Constantine turned his entire empire to follow Christianity.) Many Romans didn’t like Christianity. Many emperors, such as Diocletian and Nero, didn’t like Christianity. A man named Tacitus called Christianity a deadly superstition. Constantine didn’t care that some disliked Christianity, and since he was an emperor, he declared Christianity a religion in Rome. Constantine also founded the new city capital of the Eastern side of Rome, Constantinople. (Many countries in the western world are largely Christian today.) Many believe that because of emperor Constantine’s dedication and belief in Christianity thousands of years ago the Christianity in the western world is so popular today.

Roman religion was extremely important to the Roman Empire. The Romans worshipped and believed in hundreds of gods and goddesses which provided them with a deep faith and sometimes fear in the gods and goddesses. They feared when a god or goddess became angry and lived their lives worshipping the gods and trying to make the gods and goddesses happy.

Works Cited Gedacht, Daniel //Art and Religion in Ancient Rome 2004 NY The Rosen Publishing Group. // Adam, Simon //Life in ancient Rome NY Kingfisher publications, 2005. // Nice, Alex//. “Rome, Ancient”.// World book Student 2008 [|www.gwydr.demon.com], Dec, 13, 2008

Taplin, Fiona. //Roman world// Chandler Publishing, 2001. London, England: