The first thing we learn from this valuable text, therefore, is that, in this period,
the large number of provincial and Roman deities allowed for various divine com-
binations. Imperial cults, Roman gods, and local gods all guaranteed a fine network
of protection that could be adapted to any situation and accrued religious insurance,
as Robin Lane Fox rightly said (1986). Saturninus’ devotion evokes another char-
acteristic typical of the religion of the imperial era: the religious language of rites
performed at the altar not only helped to fight against or to prevent life’s daily
worries, but also played a decisive role in one’s perception of the world. Sacrificing
to or for the emperor was a means of recognizing that peace and the preservation
of one’s city were directly linked to the sovereign’s ability to accomplish his difficult
task as head of the empire. It was also a recognition of the established order, guar-
anteed by an institutionalized hierarchy of gods: Iuppiter Optimus Maximus, even
though not mentioned in the Lugo text, assisted by the emperor, who possessed
powers beyond that of ordinary men, made it possible for the Roman world and its
gods to exist. Everyone was conscious of this during the time of the pax Romana.
Thus, in a way, the ceremony organized by Saturninus was a means of placing his
administrative activities and life under the tight and benevolent yoke of divine patron-
age, composed of poliad or local deities (the great goddess of Carthage and the Lares
of the conventusof Braga and Lugo) encountered during his travels and the gods
who represented Roman order. All in all, city cults, cults representing the state and
Roman power as established in the world, though permutated in a thousand ways
in reflection of the myriad communities that formed the structure of the empire,
dominated the religious landscape of the empire in the second centuryad.
Taking this into consideration, it is difficult to accept the classification adopted
since Jules Toutain, in which Roman gods are distinguished from local gods and
“oriental” gods. If this last concept has now been challenged (Belayche 2000; Bonnet
et al. 2006), the distinction between Roman and indigenous cults, which is difficult
to characterize, fails to take note of the integration of the cities and provincial popula-
tions in the empire as a whole. As the imperial government rested on an amalgam
of autonomous cities, the starting point is the creation of religious constructs
defined by each city in relation to its specific history and the political dialogue it had
established with Rome. With time and under the effect of the pax Romana, the spread
of divine powers of universal character (Iuppiter Optimus Maximus, Magna Mater,
the deified emperor or his numen, etc.) and the call on the city gods to safeguard
the emperor and the empire contributed to the appearance of a common religious
language. A common religious language and a variety of pantheons specific to each
community – this is how one can define religion in the Roman empire beginning in
the second centuryad.
Provincial Particulars and Integration:
The Diversity of the Pantheons
It is never easy to board a moving train. Under Trajan, the imperial system had been
in existence for over a century and – by a process of integration – was adapted to
84 William Van Andringa