Roman Polytheism

Religion in ancient Rome consisted of various imperial and provincial religious practices followed by both the people of Rome and those who were absorbed into the Roman Empire. Romans were polytheistic and attributed their success to the maintenance of good relations with the gods. Their polytheistic religion is known for having honored many deities. The presence of Greeks on the Italian peninsula influenced Roman culture, introducing some religious practices that became fundamental such as the cultus of Apollo. The Romans found common ground between their major gods and those of the Greeks, adapting Greek myths and iconography for Latin literature and Roman art. Greek-influenced Etruscan religion also contributed to Roman religion, particularly the practice of augury which was used by the state to discover the will of the gods. Legends attribute Rome's religious institutions to its founders, particularly Numa Pompilius (the Sabine second king of Rome), who was believed to have negotiated directly with the gods. This archaic foundation was called the mos maiorum, or the way of the ancestors, and was central to Roman identity. According to mythology, Rome had a semi-divine ancestor in the Trojan refugee Aeneas, son of Venus, who was said to have established the basis of Roman religion when he brought the Palladium (a cult image of great antiquity), Lares (guardian deities) and Penates (household deities invoked most often in domestic rituals) from Troy to Italy. These objects were believed in historical times to remain in the keeping of the Vestals, Rome's female priesthood. The myth of Trojan origins was reconciled through an elaborate genealogy of its kings with the well-known legend of Rome's founding by twin brothers Romulus and Remus. After vanquishing a usurping king and regaining a throne that was rightfully theirs, Romulus and Remus set out to build a new city after consulting with the gods through augury. The brothers quarrel while building the city walls, and Romulus kills Remus, an act that is sometimes interpreted as sacrificial. Romulus was beleived to have founded several religious institutions. In the first Consualia festival, Romans invited neighbouring Sabines to participate. The ensuing rape of the Sabine women by Romulus's men, like the murder of Remus by Romulus, embedded both violence and cultural assimilation into the myth of Rome's origins. Romulus is described as the founder of Rome's first temple to Jupiter Feretrius where the prime spoils of war were offered in celebration of the first of many Roman triumphs. Romulus did not die but was mysteriously spirited away and subsequently deified. Roman religion was based on the contractual principle of do ut des (I give that you might give), and depended on the correct practice of prayer, rites, and sacrifices rather than faith or dogma. Despite this pragmatic approach, Latin literature contains some learned speculation on the nature of the divine and its relation to human affairs. Even diehard skeptics like Cicero, who was an augur, saw religion as the bedrock of social order. As the empire expanded, migrants to Rome brought their local cults, many of which became popular among Italians. In the wake of the Roman Republic's collapse, state religion was adapted to support the new regime of the emperors. Augustus, first Roman emperor, justified the novelty of one-man rule with a vast program of religious revivalism and reform. Public vows formerly offered for the security of the republic were redirected toward the well-being of the emperor. The Imperial cult of emperor worship emphasized Roman presence in the provinces and cultivated a sense of shared cultural identity and loyalty to the Empire. Rejection of state religion was equivalent to treason, which explains the empire's conflict with Christianity. Romans intermittently regarded Christianity as a form of atheism or superstition. Christians considered Roman religion as paganistic. Ultimately, Roman polytheism ended in 380 CE with the adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the empire.