Ancient Roman religion Test and Flashcards

Apotheosis

Apotheosis (from Greek ἀποθέωσις from ἀποθεοῦν, apotheoun "to deify"; in Latin deificatio "making divine"; also called divinization and deification) is the glorification of a subject to divine level.

Lupercalia

Lupercalia was a very ancient, possibly pre-Roman pastoral festival, observed on February 13 through 31, to avert evil spirits and purify the city, releasing health and fertility.

Ludi

Ludi (Latin plural) were public games held for the benefit and entertainment of the Roman people (populus Romanus).

Capitoline Triad

The Capitoline Triad was a group of three deities who were worshipped in ancient Roman religion in an elaborate temple on Rome's Capitoline Hill (Latin Capitolium).

Amburbium

The Amburbium ("City Circuit", from ambire, "to go around" + urb-, "city"; plural amburbia) was an ancient Roman festival for purifying the city; that is, a lustration (lustratio urbis).

Ara Pacis

The Ara Pacis Augustae (Latin, "Altar of Augustan Peace"; commonly shortened to Ara Pacis) is an altar in Rome dedicated to Pax, the Roman goddess of Peace.

Neptunalia

The Neptunalia was an obscure archaic two-day festival in honour of Neptune as god of waters, celebrated at Rome in the heat and drought of summer, probably July 23 (Varro, De lingua Latina vi.19).

Vinalia

The Vinalia were Roman festivals of the wine harvest, wine vintage and gardens, held in honour of Jupiter and Venus.

Matronalia

In ancient Roman religion, the Matronalia (or Matronales Feriae) was a festival celebrating Juno Lucina, the goddess of childbirth ("Juno who brings children into the light"), and of motherhood (mater is "mother" in Latin) and women in general.

Roman funerary practices

Roman funerary practices include the Ancient Romans' religious rituals concerning funerals, cremations, and burials.

Saturnalia

Saturnalia was an ancient Roman festival in honour of the deity Saturn, held on 17 December of the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities through to 23 December.

Lapis Niger

The Lapis Niger (Latin, "Black Stone") is an ancient shrine in the Roman Forum.

Theban Legion

The Theban Legion (also known as the Martyrs of Agaunum) figures in Christian hagiography as an entire Roman legion — of "six thousand six hundred and sixty-six men" — who had converted en masse to Christianity and were martyred together, in 286, according to the hagiographies of Saint Maurice, the chief among the Legion's saints.

Di indigetes

In Georg Wissowa's terminology, the di indigetes or indigites were Roman deities not adopted from other religions, as distinguished from the di novensides.

Neoplatonism

Neoplatonism is a modern term used to designate a tradition of philosophy that arose in the 3rd century AD and persisted until shortly after the closing of the Platonic Academy in Athens in AD 529 by Justinian I.

Lucus

In ancient Roman religion, a lucus is a sacred grove.

De fato

Cicero's De fato (Latin, "Concerning Fate") is a partially lost philosophical treatise written in 44 BC.

De Natura Deorum

De Natura Deorum (On the Nature of the Gods) is a philosophical dialogue by Roman orator Cicero written in 45 BC.

De Divinatione

Cicero's De Divinatione (Latin, "Concerning Divination") is a philosophical treatise in two books written in 44 BC.

Indigitamenta

In ancient Roman religion, the indigitamenta were lists of deities kept by the College of Pontiffs to assure that the correct divine names were invoked for public prayers.

Glossary of ancient Roman religion

The vocabulary of ancient Roman religion was highly specialized.

Archaeological Site of Alto da Vigia

The Archaeological Site of Alto da Vigia (Portuguese: Estação Arqueológica de Alto da Vigia) is an archaeological site associated with Roman interventions in the Portugal, situated along the Praia das Maças in the civil parish of São João das Lampas e Terrugem, in municipality of Sintra.

Decline of Greco-Roman polytheism

Religion in the Greco-Roman world at the time of the Constantinian shift mostly comprised three main currents: * the traditional religions of ancient Greece and Rome; * the official Roman imperial cult; * various mystery religions, such as the Eleusinian Mysteries, Christianity, and the mystery cults of Cybele, Mithras, and the syncretized Isis.

Flashcards: Ancient Roman religion