Latin II
 numina- spirits or divinities
who controlled all things in the
Roman world
 fire, weather, seasons
 Give gifts to ensure numina
use powers for good, not harm
 promises of gifts, offerings
or sacrifices made to
ensure the god would grant
a wish or favor
 How you communicated
wishes to gods
 Had to be tangible
I give so that you might
give
1. Public ceremony, sacrifice before
army went to war
2. Go to forum before business deal,
safe voyage, birth of child
3. In your home- make offerings to
Vesta or lares/penates
4. After the fact- make sacrifice to
thank gods for granting a wish
 attempts to discover the future
 how to tell what the gods were trying to say to you
 omen/omina- warnings or omens from the gods
 Many types of divination
 Myromancy- behavior of ants
 Cleromancy- rolling dice
 Myomancy- studying behavior of mice
haruspicy
 predicting future
events/outcome of
events by observing
animal sacrifices and
examining the liver
augury
 predicting the future
from the flight
patterns of birds
Capitoline TriadJupiter, Juno,
Minerva
-do ut des on a larger scale
-if father looks after his family
by praying to the gods,
government officials must
look out for the prosperity
of the empire
- Government officials were
also priests and had to
carry out sacrifices
-onlookers must be silent
-correct type of animal
-every word pronounced correctly
-no one can trip, stumble, forget a step
-animal must be willing!
-if rules broken- Gods
angry and the entire
ceremony done over!
-captured peoples allowed
to keep own gods if they
would also worship
Roman ones
-Romans were generally
tolerant (except Christians)
-locals encouraged to link
Roman and native gods
WHY?
 Originates in East-
Syria, Egypt, Asia
Minor
 genius- protecting
spirit of the emperor
 WHY?
-the act of becoming a god
Væ, puto deus fio
 As long as you took
part in state religion,
free to worship any
other gods/participate
in any other religion
 People did not see a
contradiction, since
there was no personal
relationship with
Roman gods
 astrology- belief that
events in a person’s life
were controlled by the
stars
 you can predict the
future by studying the
positions and
movements of the
stars
 offered hope of life after death
 offered followers a one-on-one relationship with
the divinity
Isis
Mithras
Cybele