What Role Does Religion Play In Roman Culture

Throughout the history of the Roman Empire, people of all parts of the society saw many changes. A few of the changes that they experienced were the changes in how the different emperors ruled, the dividing of the empire, economic stability and growth, and the expansion of the empire. One of the greatest changes that the people saw was the change in religion. Due to changes with the empire’s most dominant and profound religion, there was much controversy over the course of many years. Once the people of the Roman Empire came to accept all of the changes that had occurred over the many years of its existence, the empire came to persevere more than ever.

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.

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.

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: a part of theology dealing with truths of faith concerning God and God's work. Their many gods had different purposes and works they performed. The Greeks 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.

Religion played a key role in the daily life and social system of Ancient Rome. Religion included the worship of many gods and more gods were often adopted from conquered areas. Because most religions were polytheist at the time, the Romans rarely disallowed a cult from a conquered region to continue. A few cults ran into controversy and opposition from citizens or government, such as the cult of Deus Sol Invictus, and that of Isis. Romans were also not keen on monotheistic religion which explains their separation from the Jews. But above all other religions, the Romans disagreed with, persecuted and were threatened most by Christianity.  The introduction of Christianity to the Roman Empire

Without a loyal army, Rome could not fight against its enemies, so it could not protect itself. Rome was so big, and had so little soldiers, that it could no longer fight off

For the Romans, their religion was the religion of the state. It is referred to as s a state religion because for the Romans their “state religion” had “ensured and could continue to ensure the preservation and prosperity of their state.2” Because of Rome’s

Cicero expressed that the importance of religion is political; controlling the population, preventing Chaos, and promote loyalty to Rome (Encyclopedia of Britannica). The Imperial Cult sanctioned that all Emperors and relatives of the Emperors are Gods and Goddesses, had temples built to worship them (Rome Religion Gallery), and held the belief that if someone saves another persons life they must be treated as a God by the person (Encyclopedia). The honor of being seen as a God was known to be difficult to achieve if they are of low political and governmental standing

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.

Religion played a significant role in the Roman civilization but, “many people believe that Rome was not a religious place. What they probably mean is that it was not a moral place.” (Burrell, 65) The Romans had innumerable gods that they worshiped which included giving gifts and sacrificing for their gods. Sacrificing animals was common for ancient Roman civilization. The idea of sacrificing came from the people before the Roman Empire was built. Religion primarily used sacrificing as a means of showing appreciation to the gods but later became a way to get things from the gods. The increases in the expansion of Rome lead to an increasing number of sacrifices. Roman sacrifice was done in many different ways and there were numerous

Religion performed a large role in Rome's development. The Roman Empire originally polytheistic, worshipping many gods. Roman religion was based upon knowledge and the correct practice of rituals and prayers. In Roman culture, the expression of beliefs in the gods was not as important as following the strict and rigid laws of the gods. Individual Roman cities adopted their own patron deities and performed their own rituals.

Therefore, it was not a social or political thing that effected Rome’s history here, but a king who had the idea to protect other religions and allow them to believe what they wanted to believe in

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

Many Romans disassociated themselves with the Empire and the community because they were confused due to the Roman empire being built upon gods and now believing there was only one god, it lowered the credibility of the emperor. Christianity not only influenced the belief in one god but also the decisions made dealing with military, economics and lifestyle. The political theory states that Rome was governed by an emperor and only rich men could be elected as magistrates which contributed to every aspect of the Roman government. The voting system of the Empire was influenced by the wealth of the individual. It was the rich that made the laws and the majority of decisions.

This essay investigates the role of religion and the importance of Roman society and politics. It will show the origin of Roman Religion, such as the pantheon, origin myths and the effect of foreign influence on Rome. This paper will also go into immense study of how religion affected Roman society through the likes of cult worship and domestic religion. It will also show the importance of politics on Roman religion, such as, the Imperial Cult, Vestal Virgins but more or less will also expose the persecution of Christians that were in opposition to Roman paganism.