Religion
Roman religious beliefs
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The Roman religion was not like Christianity or Islam, with a single, all-powerful, allknowing, all-good god. The Roman gods had many of the same characteristics as
humans. They could be generous, clever and caring; they could also be jealous, cruel
and capricious. People did not look up to the gods as examples of perfection. They
sacrificed to them to avoid their anger. There was no promise of salvation in the
afterlife, just the hope that this life might be tolerable. (This is why the ancient religions
did not survive; they did not offer hope for the future, or a moral code by which to live.)
Rome got many of its gods from other parts of the world, particularly Greece. For
example, the king of the Roman gods, Jupiter, was the same entity as the king of the
Greek gods, Zeus. Jupiter’s wife, Juno, was actually Zeus’ wife, Hera. And so on. When
the gods were all put together, they formed the Roman pantheon.
Unlike modern religions, the Roman religion was controlled by the state. Priests and
priestesses were appointed by the government, and were expected to serve the
interests of the state. Religion was seen as a way of uniting the community.
The Romans were very tolerant of other religions. When they conquered a people, they
would include that people’s gods in their pantheon. They also expected the conquered
people to accept the Roman gods.
State Gods
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Jupiter was the king of the gods and the god of sky and thunder. He was the protector of
the Roman state. His Greek counterpart was Zeus.
Juno was queen of the gods and the protector of women. She was married to Jupiter.
She was also his sister. Her Greek counterpart was Hera.
Minerva was the goddess of wisdom and war, commerce and trade, arts and crafts,
medicine and education. She was the daughter of Jupiter. Her Greek counterpart was
Athena.
Apollo was the god of light, truth, prophesy, medicine, art, music and poetry. In Greek
mythology he was the son of Zeus.
Mars was the son of Jupiter, and the god of war. His Greek counterpart was Ares.
Venus was the goddess of love, beauty and fertility, and patron goddess of Pompeii. Her
Greek counterpart was Aphrodite.
Isis was the goddess of the earth. Originally an Egyptian god, her influence spread across
the Greco-Roman world. In Rome she was the goddess of nature and magic, and was
patron to slaves, sinners, aristocrats and the rich.
Other gods worshipped in Rome were Asclepius (god of medicine and healing), Bacchus
(god of wine), Cupid (god of love), Diana (goddess of the moon, fertility and nature),
Hercules (god of victory and commerce), Mercury (messenger of the gods), Neptune
(god of the sea), Pluto (god of the underworld), Saturn (god of the harvest) and Vulcan
(god of fire).
The three most important gods in the Roman pantheon were Jupiter, Juno and Minerva.
Together they were worshipped as the Capitoline Triad in the Temple of Jupiter.
Household Gods
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Romans took religion very seriously. Every house had a shrine to the lares, the
household gods. This was called the lararium. The lares were small statues or paintings
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of the gods. Their role was to protect the household. The main gods represented in the
lares were Vesta, goddess of the hearth, and the Panates, the spirits of the pantry.
People made small offerings of food to the lares each day. Sometimes this would just be
a few crumbs.
People took the lares with them when the fled Pompeii and Herculaneum following the
eruption. Some were found with the bodies of those who didn’t manage to get away.
One house in Pompeii with well preserved lares was the House of the Vettii.
Lares were present all over Pompeii – particularly at crossroads. People would leave
offerings at these, for the protection of the city. (Needless to say, this strategy didn’t
meet with much success!)
Foreign Cults
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Foreign cults were also present in Pompeii and Herculaneum. The two main such cults
were those of the Greek god Dionysis (the god of wine) and the Egyptian god Isis.
Dionysians devoted themselves to partying and drinking, so this cult was disapproved of
by the government.
Isis offered happiness, salvation and relief from suffering, so was popular with slaves.
The Temple of Isis in Pompeii was fully restored following the earthquake of AD 62.
Temples
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Temples served two main purposes: they were a place where the images of the gods
were placed, and where the priests could perform the rituals of the religion. Unlike
modern religions, temples were not places where people would go to worship.
Ten temples have been excavated at Pompeii, but none at Herculaneum. All ten were
damaged by the earthquake in AD 62, but most were not repaired by the time of the
eruption. Only the temple of Apollo was fully repaired.
Tombs
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Roman dead were cremated, and their ashes placed in an urn which would be buried
outside the city where they had lived. The tomb would be inscribed with information
about the deceased person. These tombs line the roads leading away from Pompeii.
The inscriptions on these urns tell us a lot about the less conspicuous denizens of the
city – freedmen, slaves, the lower classes, children. They tell us how old they were when
they died, when they were given their freedom, who paid for the tomb.
The Romans were very superstitious, and believed that people had to be granted the
proper funeral rites or they would spend eternity as a malevolent spirit.
Women prepared body for cremation by washing it, then rubbing it with oil. A coin was
then placed on the deceased person’s tongue, so he could pay Charon the ferryman
who would transport him across the river Styx to the afterlife. The body would then be
placed in the atrium of the family home, so people could pay their respects. Finally, a
procession of musicians and mourners would accompany the body to the place of
cremation.