Ben O.
Chapter 4, The Gods of Empire is a digest of Roman religious practice and belief as it changed shape over the course of the empire's existence. Demonstrating the importance of Roman religion Valerius Maximus wrote, “our state has always thought that everything should take second place to religio” (260). This religio, however is not analogous with what we conceive as modern religion. Rather religio is the practice of venerating the Gods, the most important part of this being animal sacrifices.
The Main roman pantheon of Gods was fairly similar to the Greek pantheon with a a lot of cross over in the deities roles, but it was not solely Greek in nature. The Romans had no problems appropriating the God's of foreign lands if they felt it would benefit them. As an example of this, when an enemy could not be defeated in battle they performed the rite of evocatio, essentially asking the God to abandon their homelands and go to Rome where they would be worshiped with a cult much like the rest of the Roman pantheon. In addition to this the Romans would appropriate God's as a response to major problems that needed an immediate answer. An example of this process is when Asclepius was added to the pantheon in an attempt to end a major plague that had be wrecking havoc in Rome.
A later development in Roman religion was the deification of the emperor after they died. Their apotheosis let them to be worshiped as a God and they were venerated by the imperial cult. This imperial cult was key in some of the Roman expansion to the west. The imperial deity was pushed as it would encourage loyalty to Rome and Roman culture.
It seems that what was most paramount in Roman belief was not what you believed, but the things that your belief could do for you and the state. It seems clear that the Roman state's involvement with deities was most concerned with real world effects of worship, as well as being more concerned with religious practice than belief. When change was wanted it could be made possible though the God's or just as quickly slowed down. “A delicate balance of religious conservatism and change existed throughout the Republic. The state continued to keep a careful watch over which gods could be brought to and installed in Rome, adjusting its religious practice to fit the particular needs of the city.”(267) For the Roman state religion was a tool to be used to change or preserve situations as they saw fit.
Chapter 4, The Gods of Empire is a digest of Roman religious practice and belief as it changed shape over the course of the empire's existence. Demonstrating the importance of Roman religion Valerius Maximus wrote, “our state has always thought that everything should take second place to religio” (260). This religio, however is not analogous with what we conceive as modern religion. Rather religio is the practice of venerating the Gods, the most important part of this being animal sacrifices.
The Main roman pantheon of Gods was fairly similar to the Greek pantheon with a a lot of cross over in the deities roles, but it was not solely Greek in nature. The Romans had no problems appropriating the God's of foreign lands if they felt it would benefit them. As an example of this, when an enemy could not be defeated in battle they performed the rite of evocatio, essentially asking the God to abandon their homelands and go to Rome where they would be worshiped with a cult much like the rest of the Roman pantheon. In addition to this the Romans would appropriate God's as a response to major problems that needed an immediate answer. An example of this process is when Asclepius was added to the pantheon in an attempt to end a major plague that had be wrecking havoc in Rome.
A later development in Roman religion was the deification of the emperor after they died. Their apotheosis let them to be worshiped as a God and they were venerated by the imperial cult. This imperial cult was key in some of the Roman expansion to the west. The imperial deity was pushed as it would encourage loyalty to Rome and Roman culture.
It seems that what was most paramount in Roman belief was not what you believed, but the things that your belief could do for you and the state. It seems clear that the Roman state's involvement with deities was most concerned with real world effects of worship, as well as being more concerned with religious practice than belief. When change was wanted it could be made possible though the God's or just as quickly slowed down. “A delicate balance of religious conservatism and change existed throughout the Republic. The state continued to keep a careful watch over which gods could be brought to and installed in Rome, adjusting its religious practice to fit the particular needs of the city.”(267) For the Roman state religion was a tool to be used to change or preserve situations as they saw fit.