Stage #23 Pensum:
Nōmen ________________________________
“Roman Religion LECTURE NOTES
Diēs __________________________________
After completing the reading on pages 57-62, we will be discussing the information in class. Please
use the following outline to take notes as Magistra talks about religious practices. Make sure you
get the definitions of bold words before our classroom discussion.
I. Sacrifices and Presents to the Gods
Early Roman Times: numina- spirits or divinities who controlled all things (fire, seasons, etc)
-Romans presented them with gifts of food and wine to ensure that the numina
used their powers for good instead of harm
3rd century B.C. - Roman numina incorporated into the Greek pantheon of gods
Ceres, goddess of grain Demeter
Venus  Aphrodite Apollo Apollo
vota- promises of gifts, offerings, or sacrifices to ensure the god would grant wish or favor
-how people communicated their wishes to the gods
-couldn’t just pray- had to be something tangible
do ut des- I give so that you might give
-Religion built around the idea of quid pro quo
-in order for the gods to do something for you, you had to promise to do something
for them
-anthropomorphization of gods- gods were petty, greedy (humanlike) so they needed
to be bribed and flattered
Exempla: 1) Public ceremony, sacrifice before the army went to war
2) Go to forum to offer sacrifice before business deal, safe voyage, birth of child
3) In your home:
make offerings to Vesta (goddess of hearth) or the lares and
penates (household gods) to ensure prosperity of family
4) after the fact- make sacrifice to thank gods for a success or for granting a wish
inscription “Tullia Superiana takes pleasure in keeping her promise to Minerva the
unforgetting for giving her her hair back.”
II. Divination
i. divination- attempts to discover the future- how to tell what the gods were saying to you
omen/omina- warnings/omens- ordinary people could not tell whether these omina were
favorable or not, so they had professionals to help them
ii. haruspex- person who predicted future events by observing animal sacrifices and examining
the liver- looking at size, shape, discolorations, spots- and use these markings to predict
the signs from the gods- very specific set of rules and regulations bronze model liver
iii. augury/augures- predicting the future from the flight patterns of birds (what kind of birds,
how many, where they were flying, etc)
III. Roman State Religion
i. dozens of gods,spirits, rituals, ceremonies- no one person worshipped every god or spirit
gov’t promoted the worship of Jupiter and his family
ii Religious rituals/ceremonies organized by priests- most religious officials were senators,
judges, tribunes, aediles, consuls, etc who carried out sacrifices
NO SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE! same idea of do ut des
just like the father looks after his family by appealing to the gods/offering
sacrifices, gov’t officials must look out for the prosperity of the country
Emperor- Pontifex Maximus- chief priest
Salvius- member of the Arval Brotherhood, group who prayed for the safety of
emperor
Correct rules of conduct during a ritual/ceremony/sacrifice:
onlookers must be silent
black animal for underworld gods, white for
each word had to pronounced correctly
Olympian gods
no one can trip/stumble/forget a step
animal must be willing (nod his head down)
otherwise the entire ceremony had to start over- Gods would be angry
IV. Role of Religion in Romanization
i. generally tolerant nature of Romans – subject (conquered) peoples were allowed to keep their
own beliefs and practices unless they threatrened Roman ideas (Christians)
ii. identification of local gods with Roman gods- Sulis Sulis Minerva (this dates back to the
Romans linking their own spirits to the much older gods/civilizations of the Greeks
-free to worship as many gods as you wanted as long as you also worshipped Roman ones
-way to get subjects on your sidesiii. Emperor Worship- initially discouraged in Rome and west until the Emperor had died
-people in Eastern provinces (Syria, Egypt, Asia Minor) had always seen rulers as divine
ready to worship emperors as Gods
genius- protecting spirit of the emperor- Romans encourage Britons, Gauls, Germans, etc
to embrace this policy- deify emperors after their deaths, build them temples, etc
apotheosis- the act of becoming a god
why was this policy encouraged? if you worship the emperor (head of state) as a God, more
likely that you will accept Roman rule as well
Why the policy of promoting Roman religion and emperor worship proved successful:
-Upper and Middle Classes embraced Romanization of religion- want to advance in society
-helped make Roman rule acceptable- if you share the same gods, easier to accept ideas
-gave people in provinces a sense that they all belonged to one great emperor
V. Astrology/Other Belief Systems
-many people took part in state religion (Olympian gods) and other belief systems
-as long as you worship the Roman gods, who cares what else you believe in
astrology- held belief that events in a person’s life controlled by the starts and that you can
forecast the future by studying the positions and movements of the stars
official government position towards astrology: disapproved- people would try to find out
when their friends would die, etc.
-every so often all astrologers would be banned from Rome
-many emperors believed in astrology, like Barbillus had their own astrologers
mystery cults- offered followers hope of life after death
-offered followers a one-on-one relationship with the divinity
-most originated in the Eastern part of the empire and were imported into Rome
-common cults- Cybele, Isis, Mithras
Understanding Check Before the Stage Test: Make sure you understand and can define the
following terms and can identify which aspect of Roman religion (practice of divination,
worship of the gods/goddesses, private family worship, or worship of the emperor) it
falls under.
astrology
augures
divination
genius
haruspex
Lares et Penates
numen/numina
omen/omina
Pontifex Maximus
Vesta
votum/vota