virtus(“manliness”) to the Roman people. In order for these temples to become
part of the Roman religious system, however, the senate had to give its assent, which
it regularly did, underlining both the ultimate senatorial control over Roman reli-
gion and the habitual cooperation between the senate and individual actors. On many
levels, the addition of foreign cults to Rome exemplifies the main features of the
Roman religious system.
In addition to new cults, expansion brought changes in the ritual practice of exist-
ing cults in Rome. Festivals since the early republic had included ludi(games), mostly
horse races (ludi circenses), though by the fourth century plays (ludi scaenici) had
also formed part of the program (see chapter 16). In the late third century, the same
era which saw an increase in the pace of the introduction of foreign cults, the direc-
tion of these festivals turned more toward the stage than the race track, due in part
to the influence of the culturally Greek areas of southern Italy. The sheer number
of ludiproliferated as well: the plebeian games were founded, and annual games
were added in honor of Apollo, the Magna Mater, and the goddess Flora, all within
a fifty-year span, marking a dramatic shift toward this type of religious activity and
a striking increase in the number of days devoted to this ritual. The Romans even
created a new college, known as the epulones, to supervise the rituals of the games
(Livy 33.42). Contact with the Greek world led to other changes as well. The cult
of Ceres underwent a significant transformation, adding Greek rites, apparently along
the lines of the Eleusinian mystery cult, to those of the original Italic cult that had
been founded in the early fifth century; Cicero (Pro Balbo 55) informs us that priestesses
were invited from the culturally Greek towns in southern Italy especially to officiate
at these rites. The temples built in the second century reflect Greek influence as well,
often employing Greek artists and adopting Greek techniques and styles, including
the beginnings of the use of marble in temple construction. The closer Roman con-
tacts with the Greek world in the late third century left their marks all over Roman
religious practice.
A Response to Expansion:
Defining “Roman” Religion
These ritual and cult introductions brought a variety of new practices into Rome,
but in doing so, they posed a problem: what was “Roman” about Roman religion?
One can observe the Roman elite working out an answer to this question over the
course of the second century bceby placing limitations and restrictions on a variety
of rituals. The case of the Magna Mater mentioned above provides a good exam-
ple. The senate placed a series of restrictions on the practice of this cult in Rome,
banning native-born Romans from serving as priests of the cult or walking in pro-
cession, and limiting the activity of the galli, the Phrygian eunuch priests, to the
specific days of the goddess’s festival (Dion. H. 2.19). At the same time, the senate
organized ludi, a Roman form of worship, for the Magna Mater and provided for
a Roman magistrate to preside at sacrifices held according to the Roman custom,
and members of the aristocracy formed sodalitates(brotherhoods) to organize
Urban Religion in the Middle and Late Republic 63