Roman Religion Research Paper

Words: 491
Pages: 2

The Romans were mainly polytheistic and the state of rome controlled religion. The Romans adopted most of their gods from the Greeks, and gave them roman names. For hundreds of years, the Romans believed that every living and nonliving things had a “guardian spirit.” The romans built temples and shrines to honor their gods. Temples were at the center of every roman town to honor the three divine beings called the Capitoline triad which were the gods Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. Jupiter was the supreme God in the Roman mythology pantheon. Jupiter was known as the Roman god of the heavens and the sky. He was considered to be the patron deity of the Roman state, in charge of laws and social order. Juno was the Roman goddess who protected the nation …show more content…
For example Romulus became the god of Quirinus. Priests were government officials who were elected or appointed to office. They performed sacrifices and other ceremonies to win the favor of the gods for the state. The most important priests were the pontiffs.The chief priest was known as the pontifex maximus. During the empire, this position was always held by the emperor. An important feature of Roman religion was divination which was the telling of the future and asking the gods to ward off their anger. The Sibylline Books, a set of religious texts, showed how to deal with natural occurrences such as earthquakes, or storms. Roman religion became more political, people turned to other religions. As Rome expanded and grew, the Romans came in contact with people who worshiped other gods. If those people had fought extremely well, the Romans figured that their gods must be pretty good, so the Romans adopted those gods and made them Roman gods as well. Christianity became a popular alternative to Roman religion. Christians refused to worship Roman gods, and that was against the law. Because Christianity wasn't allowed, they met in