A Brief Look at Imperial Religion

State religion was loosely intertwined with Politics and example of this is the development of the imperial cult during the rule of Augustus, the temples of Vespian and Fortuna Augusta, This was due to the imperial worship of Emperors in which public worship took place in the Capitoline, The temple of Apollo was said to be directly linked to the worship of Augustus who had elected Apollo his patron god after his success in the battle of Actium (31 BC)

In Roman religion, it was crucial “to serve the gods and ensure goodwill” (The Roman Republic). The English word “Religion” comes from the Latin word “Religio” (Overview of Religion). Latin was the ancient language of Rome, but for the Roman’s the translation meant something very different from what we understand it as today. To the Romans, “Religio” translated to “ the fear of gods” (Overview of Religion). Romans invested much of their time serving the gods, performing rituals and sacrifices in honor of them. On the contrary, Greek religion did not prefer to execute rituals as much as the Romans. Greeks were more lenient when honoring the gods. They did not have a theological dogma: belief or principle. There was no specific way in which the religion was executed. The Greeks many gods had different purposes and works they performed. They relied more on the verbal spread of the religion rather than having a written form. Although different, both religions had forms of praising and honoring their gods. Greek and Roman religion have many differences and similarities that impacted each group of people.

In the ancient Greek world, religion was personal, direct, and present in its citizens’ daily lives. During this time, they participated in animal sacrifices and offerings, created myths to explain the beginning of the human race and gave reverence to their gods by building temples which controlled the urban landscape. They also participated in local festivals and sporting and artistic competitions. Religion was never out of the presence of ancient Greece’s citizens. While they may have made up their own mind on the terms of their religious beliefs, some may have been completely confused if these gods actually existed. There were certain fundamental beliefs that must have been sufficiently widespread, in order for the Greek government to function. In ancient Greece, gods existed, they influenced human concerns, and they welcomed and responded to acts of godliness and worship.

At one time, all of Rome was united by a common religion. This religion, commonly referred to as the Roman religion, was derived from the religion in Greece. Members of this religion, which included the majority, if not all, of the Roman citizens, worshiped many different gods, including the creator or father god, Jupiter, the sun god, Apollo, the god of inspiring wars, Mars, and many others as well. The popularity of this religion began to decline when Christianity arose. It appealed to the majority of the people, particularly the lower class and slaves, who now had something to put their hope and faith in. This religion spread rapidly, and Roman emperors felt that because it was so influential it would become a possible threat. These leaders began persecuting Christians, but many Romans had already committed to this religion and refused to abandon it because they viewed it as the most important part of their life. This led to a lack of patriotism in Roman citizens who then rejected politics and became independent of the government.

Both the Greeks and Romans were accepting of other gods from different cultures. Romans adopted different gods and made them a part of the Roman religion. This would soon change as the Christian religion began to rise in popularity. In Roman society Christianity was not accepted they “believed it was anti-Roman and considered it atheist, it was outlawed, and people were executed”

The cultural of the Roman Empire was a melting pot of the religious and cultural influences of the conquered societies that had been assimilated into the Empire. The various religions and cultural practice created a complex pantheon of “gods.” Ever larger temples and statues were erected to bring glory and honor to cities and give honor the Emperor. Additionally, cities would host gladiatorial games to bring honor to the Emperor. These events and building projects were facilitated by those who sought to bring greater glory and honor upon themselves with Roman society.

This declaration was a precursor to the manipulation of religion as a means to acquire wealth, enhance social and political power, and as a method of societal control; a manipulation that would only grow and continue in coming centuries. Constantine understood that by getting people to believe that there was only one true and worthy God to worship and obey, convincing them to obey and worship only one worthy and true earthly leader, was entirely feasible. Implementing this religion upon his people was a self-serving attempt at coming to be an all-powerful, rightful and ruling God on earth: a concept later defined as “divine right” by successive emperors (Lundskow, 2008, 72). Abrupt social changes occurred under the rule of Constantine, and this aided with the people’s ready reception of and conversion to the Christianity. Pagan practices, although still in existence, were becoming out-dated and society was open to the idea of a religion that was a more accurate reflection of their current lifestyle; Christianity responded accordingly to this desire. Similarly, to the Emperor, not every individual was particularly overcome by everlasting faith in Christianity. Rather, its social advantages and opportunity for economic advancement proved to be the deciding factors for most. The people’s acceptance of Christianity is attributable to Constantine’s political ascension to power, which in turn is attributable to a multitude of subsequent worldly leaders embracing the Christian faith to push their own personal

Emperors typically were based on power and order rather than following the word of God. The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman state and had no single term for office; however, at any given time one may be named Emperor. If a man was proclaimed this title, it normally meant that he was associated with an important office or title, such as Augustus or Caesar. The Power of the emperors was based on the accumulation of power and the support from offices and the

- Romans believed in many different deities and entities which were relevant to different goods and activities, including agriculture. These deities were given offerings as well as had sacrifices and rituals performed in their name by priests chosen from the aristocracy. In return, the gods were to favor the Roman state.

Although Han China and Imperial Rome have similarities in that they both use theology to explain their rule and they both use the militaries to control their peoples they differed in the degree of citizen participation in government. In Han China the theology of the Mandate of Heaven explained that emperors could be in charge of their empire as long as the empire was stable and prosperous in the eyes of those living in the empire. With the Mandate of Heaven the emperor explained that the gods respected the emperor's rule. But when things like natural disasters or crop failures begin to occur it signaled that the gods were no longer behind the emperor's rule and a change of power needed to take place. In Imperial Rome any religious beliefs it

In the ancient Roman world, religion played the most important role in everyday life, as well as in matters of the state. The Romans looked to the gods for political stability and for control of the unexplainable and natural phenomenon. The gods were believed to control all aspects of Roman life, and for that reason, a great deal of importance was placed in the appropriate worship of the gods. Women played an extremely influential role in ancient Roman religion. Not only did they participate in religious rituals, but some even held religious positions as Vestal Virgins.

After witnessing the strict policies and rule of the Qin Dynasty, the emperors of the Han Dynasty began to base their rule upon Confucian ideals revolving around the mandate of heaven and the legitimization of the emperor’s rule. Jia Yi, a scholar of both the Qin and Han Dynasties and a witness of Empress Lu’s harsh ruling, stated that “It is said that in government, the people are in every way the root (base)… Thus the security of the state or its endangerment depends on them [the people].” Yi explains that the power and legitimacy of the government resided in the people, thus, emperors

Throughout the history of Rome, from the monarchy to the late empire, religion had played a great role in it's society and was involved in almost every aspect of the life of the Roman citizen. It was common for each house to have it's own patron god/gods and ,on special occasions, the head of the house would make a sacrifice to the personal gods of the family. Also, great festivals were usually held in honor of certain gods and would include spectacles like chariot races and Gladiatorial fights.

The Romans had a religion that they believed in but was not something concrete and was not of having a central idea. The religion was based on a mix of certain traditions and beliefs. Religion was not never really a big factor in their Empire. The Romans were stubborn with religion and this could be the reason they had an attitude towards these aspects of life. According to St. Augustine’s book Confession, he states that there were a lot of fake gods and there were two major religions in the Roman Empire. The very first religion was Paganism and that’s what his father was known to believe. Then the second main religion was Christianity which his mother believed in. The emperor of Rome at this time, Constantine himself was not a Christian when he conquered Rome, but rather he had a religious conversion when he won the fight with contending tetrarchs at the Milvian bridge in 306 AD, with help of image of the Cross. The

One of the religions during the 1st century was Graeco-Roman Pantheon. In the beginning of Rome the starting religion was animism. This religion believes that god controlled life like the wind and fire. The Greek Pantheon and the Roman gods were worshiped equally. Many people began to criticize this religion and the worship of these gods lessened. Worshiping of the gods was not universal through the empire, since people worshiped the god of their city.