RUSANGU UNIVERSITY
School of Health Sciences
STUDENT NAME:
CYPRIAN CHIKUTA PHIRI
STUDENT ID:
20200468
COURSE:
HISTORY OF WORLD CIVILISATION
COURSE CODE:
HIST 100
LECTURER:
MRS MUZILA
ASSIGNMENT NO:
1
QUESTION
Describe the religious beliefs and practices of ancient Rome under the following subheadings.
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The Roman gods and attached practices and traditions
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The adopted Greek gods
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Life after death
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The general religious beliefs
DATE GIVEN:
14/04/2020
DUE DATE:
01/05/2020
INTRODUCTION
In many societies, ancient and modern, religion has performed a major role in their development,
and the ancient Rome was no different (Wasson. L, 2013). The beginning Roman religion was
polytheistic and throughout the three Roman eras; that is the Kingdom or Monarch (753 BC- 509
BC), Republic (509 BC- 27 BC) and Empire (27BC to 487 AD). The Romans, according to the
orator and politician Cecero excelled all other peoples in the unique wisdom that made them
realize that everything is subordinate to the rule and direction of the gods (Grant, 1966).
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THE ROMAN GODS AND ATTACHED PRACTICES AND TRADITIONS
The ancient Romans had many gods; however the three main gods and /or goddesses known as
the Capitoline triad were Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. The Capitoline triad was initially the Achaic
triad which included Jupiter, Mars and Quirinus as the major deities. The other major Roman
gods included Neptune, Venus, Mars, Apollo, Diana, Vulcan, Vesta, Mercury, Ceres, Pluto and
Janus. There are of course several other gods the Romans believed in, some of which were
adopted from the Greeks and other nations or tribes especially as the ancient Rome evolved from
being a Monarch to an Empire. Jupiter (the sky god) also regarded as the along the other
Capitoline gods, were worshipped at a temple on Capitoline Hill. The Romans gave Jupiter a
priest (flamen) known as flamine dialis. Latialis festival was associated with Jupiter which was
commemorated every year as the protector of Rome. Military commanders would pay homage to
Jupiter at his temple after winning in battle.
Mars who was parented by Jupiter and Juno was associated with festivals in March, festivals
before and after the beginning of war and the October 15 horse race festival. Juno, wife and
sister to Jupiter was associated with sospita, lucina and moneta beliefs which means protector of
those awaiting childbirth, goddess of childbirth and protector of the funds of Rome respectively.
She was also referred to as the patron goddess of Rome. The first Roman coins were said to be
minted in the temple of Juno Moneta. Minerva who was born from the head of Jupiter was the
goddess of wisdom. She watched over schoolchildren and craftspeople such as carpenters and
stonemasons. Pluto was believed to be the Roman underworld god. Neptune brother of Jupiter,
Pluto and Juno was god of freshwater and the sea, along with earthquakes, hurricanes and horses.
Venus was the goddess of love, beauty and even prostitution; she was also believed to be the
husband to Vulcan (the god of fire and volcanoes) and lover to Mars. Vulcan was also believed
to be the maker of the weapons of the gods. Apollo (fathered by Jupiter and Latona) was
regarded as god of music, healing, light and truth while his twin sister Diana was regarded as the
goddess of hunt. Diana was usually depicted with a bow and arrow. Ceres was the Roman
goddess of agriculture and grain crops. The goddess was cerebrated at the festival of Cerealia
which was celebrated for seven days from mid- to late April to thank her for the grain crops
(cereals).
ADOPTED GREEK GODS
The ancient Romans adopted the Greek gods by finding an equivalent of their gods to the Greeks
equivalent. The Supreme god Jupiter was associated with Zeus as the Greek equivalent. Ares the
god of god of war for the Greeks was associated with Mars. Juno the wife and sister of Jupiter
who was associated with the Greek counterpart Hera who was the wife of Zeus. Neptune the god
of the sea and was also associated with Poseidon the god of earthquakes. Minerva (Jupiter’s
daughter born from his head) is thought to be the equivalent of the goddess Athena, who was the
Greek goddess of wisdom. Venus was integrated with Aphrodite, goddess of love even
prostitutes. Apollo was a complete adopted god of the Greeks as there was no Roman
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counterpart. Apollo was taken directly from Greek god Apollo. He was the god of music, poetry,
and archery. His twin sister was Diana. Diana was taken from the Greek goddess Artemis. She
was goddess of the hunt, archery, and animals. Her symbols included the moon, the snake, and
the bow and arrow. Ceres was the equivalent of the Greek goddess Demeter. She was goddess of
agriculture and the seasons. Vulcan comes from the Greek god Hephaestus. He was the
blacksmith for the rest of the gods and was god of fire. The word volcano comes from the name
Vulcan. Bacchus comes from the Greek god Dionysus. He was god of wine and the theatre. He
was the youngest of the major gods and the only one born to mortals. There of course other gods
the Romans adopted from the Greeks some of whom had to Roman counterpart
LIFE AFTER DEATH
The Romans followed a very specific series of steps when dealing with the bodies of the dead
most of which was incorporated or adopted from the Greeks. A relative would close the eyes of
the dead body, calling the name of the departed. The body was then washed and a coin was place
in the mouth. The coin was to pay Charon, who was perceived or believed to be a spirit or god,
who carried the dead across the river called Achelon also river Styx and Lethe into the
underworld. Those whose family could not afford Charon’s payment were believed to be
stranded on Achelon river banks and haunted the banks. Pluto was believed to be the god of the
underworld, a place were the human spirits after death went. There were basically four places in
the underworld were the human spirits go. The Elysium field was the places were the great
people and war heroes went, everyone who goes there was believed to be happy and the place
was beautiful. The Asphodel fields were for those who were neutral, those who were good as
well as evil. The place was believed to be very foggy and those there wandered aimlessly. The
third destination was the place of Punishment and those who went there were punished for their
crimes for it was a place where the moderately evil went. The place of Punishment was believed
not to be as worst as the fourth place referred to as Tartarus. Tartarus was the place where the
gods imprisoned the Titans and were the evilest people went. The torture in Tartarus was
believed to be horrendous and eternal. Romans believed that sometimes the spirits of the dead
might return to the world of the living, as either Manes (protecting spirits of the dead) or
Lemures (malevolent spirits of the dead).
GENERAL BELIEFS AND PRACTICES
The ancient Romans were superstitious people for example every Roman house had a sacred fire,
and people believed that the lit fire would protect the family. When the fire went out, they
thought that something terrible would happen in the family. Dreams usually were believed that
the gods were communicating something important, Caesar actually feared dreams. Also lefthanded people were considered unlucky and untrustworthy. Romans generally believed that
spirits inhabited everything around them, people included. They believed they were watched
over by the spirits of their ancestors. Since the ancient Romans were polytheistic, they also
believed that in order to live a good life and to be prosperous individuals, families and states
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need to have a good relationship with all the gods that were in-charge of different sacred
functions. To appease the gods for protection, food supply and good lucky Romans believed that
different deities or gods needed sacrifice as propitiation. Sacrifice of most commonly animals
was done together with prayers and various rituals. Human sacrifice was done though rare and
usually criminals were sacrificed. The other popular religious beliefs and practices in ancient
Rome included religious festivals, numina, prayers, vows and oaths. On the days that were
sacred festivals, and were also holy days, persons rested from their routine daily activities. More
than 100 days of the year were feast days dedicated to various Roman gods and goddesses. Days
that were not considered sacred were called vacantes (vacant days), during which people worked
All the sacred days were enshrined in the religious calendar. Lupecaria is one of the important
festivals which was characterized with ritual saiii dances probably in honor of Romulus and
Remus the founding fathers of Rome
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CONCLUSION
Generally the Romans were traditions and religious practices were influenced by the tribes and
nations they conquered and varied greatly in other regions especially during the Empire era as
more and more nations were added to the Roman Regions.
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REFERENCES
1. Michael Grant, Roman Religion-Definition. Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-religion. (Accessed: April, 21 2020)
2. Michael Grant, Roman Religion- Beliefs, practices, and institutions. Encyclopedia
Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Roman-religion/Beliefspractices-and-institutions. (Accessed: April, 21 2020)
3. Wasson. D.L (2013), Roman Religion, Ancient History Encyclopedia. Available at:
https://www.ancient.eu/Roman_Religion/. (Accessed: April 21, 2020)
4. National Geographical Society (2018). “The gods and goddesses of Ancient Rome”.
Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/gods-and-goddesses-ancientrome/. (Accessed at: April 22, 2020)
5. Graham. L (2020), The 12 Gods and Goddesses of Pagan Rome. HistoryHit. Available at:
https://www.historyhit.com/the-gods-and-goddesses-of-pagan-rome/. (Accessed: April
April, 2020)
6. Figula. S.M (2011) Afterlife, Roman Pagan. Available at:
https://romanpagan.wordpress.com/the-afterlife/. (Accessed: April 27, 2020)