Religion in Roman Empire
Religion in the Roman Empire
Religion in the Roman Empire was extremely diverse, due to Rome’s ability to blend in new religious beliefs from freshly conquered territory into the empire, from the Hebrew Religion in Palestine, the Classical Greek Gods of Homer in Asia Minor, the Druids in Gaul and Germania and Celt’s in Britannia, Rome’s religious tolerance was a vital hallmark which greatly attributed in its ability to successfully mend in new people and cultures into the empire. Rome’s religious toleration extended to new religions as long as they agreed to worship the Emperor and religious rituals stayed in the context of Roman civility, which refrained from practicing human sacrifices or mutilation, and did not incite rebellion.
Since Roman religion was not based on a core belief which forbade the introduction of other religious beliefs such as the Hebrew and later Christian religion, but rather a mixture of Latin and Greek religious influence with added deities as the empire expanded, which encompassed individual family household gods, regional and the classic Roman and Greek deities such as the Roman God Neptune or Greek counterpart Poseidon, both gods of the sea, the introduction of new religious practices into Roman life was very acceptable. As more and more diverse deities made their way into Rome from the conquered provinces, an individual’s search for reward in the afterlife or in life, influenced Roman cultural integration and choosing whether or not to worship newly introduced deities.
During the Greek Archaic period, the worship of the Homeric Gods found in Homers The Iliad and The Odyssey written around 750 B.C., which displayed the relationship between Bronze age Gods and Goddesses and the Homeric Greek Heroes of the Iliad such as Achilles, Prince, Agamemnon and Menelaus during the Greek Achaeans decade long siege of Troy, as well as Odysseus relationship with the Gods on his long return to his wife, son and
Religion in the Roman Empire was extremely diverse, due to Rome’s ability to blend in new religious beliefs from freshly conquered territory into the empire, from the Hebrew Religion in Palestine, the Classical Greek Gods of Homer in Asia Minor, the Druids in Gaul and Germania and Celt’s in Britannia, Rome’s religious tolerance was a vital hallmark which greatly attributed in its ability to successfully mend in new people and cultures into the empire. Rome’s religious toleration extended to new religions as long as they agreed to worship the Emperor and religious rituals stayed in the context of Roman civility, which refrained from practicing human sacrifices or mutilation, and did not incite rebellion.
Since Roman religion was not based on a core belief which forbade the introduction of other religious beliefs such as the Hebrew and later Christian religion, but rather a mixture of Latin and Greek religious influence with added deities as the empire expanded, which encompassed individual family household gods, regional and the classic Roman and Greek deities such as the Roman God Neptune or Greek counterpart Poseidon, both gods of the sea, the introduction of new religious practices into Roman life was very acceptable. As more and more diverse deities made their way into Rome from the conquered provinces, an individual’s search for reward in the afterlife or in life, influenced Roman cultural integration and choosing whether or not to worship newly introduced deities.
During the Greek Archaic period, the worship of the Homeric Gods found in Homers The Iliad and The Odyssey written around 750 B.C., which displayed the relationship between Bronze age Gods and Goddesses and the Homeric Greek Heroes of the Iliad such as Achilles, Prince, Agamemnon and Menelaus during the Greek Achaeans decade long siege of Troy, as well as Odysseus relationship with the Gods on his long return to his wife, son and