ROME
BY MICHAEL J. O’NEAL
Th e complex religious beliefs of the ancient Romans are dif-
fi cult to describe for at least three reasons. First, they changed
over time, oft en radically so. Second, the Romans incorpo-
rated the beliefs of numerous cultures that lived within their
vast empire. Finally, the Romans tended to be tolerant of di-
vergent religious beliefs within their borders as long as these
religions did not disrupt the social order.
Th e chief generalization that can be made is that Romans
were pagans, meaning they practiced a polytheistic religion.
Th e word paganism comes from the Latin paganus, meaning
“country dweller,” and was a term Roman city dwellers oft en
used as something of an insult directed against less-sophis-
ticated people in the countryside. Polytheism means belief
in more than one god. Even people who are not students of
Roman life are likely to be familiar with the names of some
of the many Roman gods, if only because planets in the so-
lar system are named aft er them, including Mercury, Venus,
Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune. Th e term pantheon,
which originated in Greece, is used to refer to a set of offi -
cially recognized gods such as these. Th e makeup of the Ro-
man pantheon, particularly as it was recognized by the state,
changed over time.
Th e polytheism of the Roman Empire did not endure un-
til the empire’s end. In the early years of the Common Era,
Christianity was spreading throughout many parts of the Ro-
man Empire, particularly in the east. In the fourth century
c.e. Christianity became the offi cial religion of the empire,
and pagan beliefs and practices were offi cially outlawed.
EARLY ROMAN RELIGION
Rome borrowed a number of its gods from the ancient Greeks,
oft en simply giving a Greek god a Roman name. Th us, the
Greek god Zeus became the Roman god Jupiter; the Greek
Hermes became the Roman Mercury. However, historians of
religion note a peculiar diff erence between the Greek and Ro-
man pantheons of gods. Th e Greeks developed an elaborate
mythology, or set of narratives, surrounding the activities
of their gods. Many of these narratives remain foundational
narratives in Western life. For example, the Greeks originated
the story of Narcissus, a handsome youth who fell in love with
his own refl ection in the water. His name is still used to re-
fer to narcissistic people, or those who are vain and overly
concerned with their appearance. Th e story of Icarus, who
plunged to his death when he fl ew too close to the sun and
caused his wax wings to melt, survives as a warning against
arrogantly setting aspirations that are too high.
Th e Romans, in contrast, attached little in the way of
narrative to their early gods, identifying them by name and
function only. Th e earliest Romans saw their gods in animis-
tic terms, which meant they believed in gods who ruled over
or infl uenced places and aspects of their daily lives, but they
did not create stories about them or their relationships with
other gods. In time, genealogies and a complex system of
mythology grew up around these gods. Th e earliest Romans,
however, saw these gods in simple terms, referring to them as
numina; this word that is diffi cult to translate, though “pres-
ence” or “power” comes close. Early Romans believed that
these gods were present everywhere in life. Many were ad-
opted from the Etruscans, who predated the Romans on the
Italian peninsula. Roman theologians referred to these gods
and goddesses as di indigetes, from which the modern word
indigenous comes. Th ese were the native Roman deities, in
contrast to the di novensides, or “newcomer gods” imported
from other cultures, especially in later centuries. A list of di
indigetes runs to at least 180 names.
An important early Roman goddess was Ceres, the god-
dess of growing plants, especially grains, and motherly love
(and the source of the modern word cereal). Ceres is an exam-
ple of the way Roman communities adopted gods and god-
desses as patrons, particularly in times of crisis. Ceres was
the patron of the Mediterranean island of Sicily, but in 496
b.c.e. the Italian peninsula suff ered a famine, so Ceres was
absorbed as part of the Roman pantheon as a way to over-
come crop failure.
Additionally, Ceres is a good example of how sets of
minor gods and goddesses served as assistants to look over
particular human aff airs. Th us, Ceres was attended by nu-
merous other minor gods and goddesses who oversaw vari-
ous aspects of agriculture. A few examples include Insitor, the
sower; Obarator, the plower; Occator, the harrower; and Sar-
ritor, who weeded. Th us, when a farmer was about to sow his
crop, he invoked the name of Ceres and her attendant Insitor.
But Ceres and her attendants were only a few of the many
gods and goddesses of archaic Rome. January, for example,
is named aft er Janus, the god depicted with two faces facing
in opposite directions. Janus was the god of doors, gates, and
beginnings and endings. Again, in the early Roman cosmol-
ogy these spirits, or presences, were considered part of the
fabric of the world and human endeavor, to be honored and
appeased in response to circumstances.
In the ancient Roman home the senior male, oft en called
the paterfamilias, was regarded as the chief priest of his fam-
ily, perhaps of his larger clan. He supervised worship in his
family and headed his family’s cult, which included its ances-
tors. With regard to public religious activity, the king was the
nation’s religious leader, but religion was very much a local
aff air, conducted primarily within the family. Each family
worshipped its own cult, or favored gods.
Over time, though, a system of public observances and
practices evolved. A class of priests, called fl amens, ensured
that proper observances and sacrifi ces were made to the gods.
Just as the gods were ranked in order of importance, so too
were the priests. Th e highest rank included those respon-
sible for the most important gods. Th ese were Jupiter (the
chief god, equivalent to the Greek Zeus and responsible for
rainfall, thunder, and the sky), Mars (originally the god of
agriculture but later the god of war), and Quirinus (the god858 religion and cosmology: Rome