Monday, 26 October 2020

ANCIENT ROMAN RELIGION



The Roman had their traditional ceremonies and they worshiped Roman gods as well as gods from other provinces and city states. After Augustus, emperor worship was also incorporated into the Roman religion.

 The Romans were regarded as practical people. There were more consumed with building, organizing and enjoying themselves and did not seem to concern themselves too much with spiritual and religious matters. In general, the Romans took a more light hearted view of spiritual matters and the god they worshiped reflected this.

 For Romans religion was more of a duty than it was for the Greeks. Cults, superstition, rituals, festivals and sacrifices appealed to them more than devotion and morality. The priesthood was often more interested in politics than spirituality. The Senate and Emperor were religious figures.

 In Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire , the 18th-century historian Edward Gibbon, cynically observed: "The various modes of worship, which prevailed in the Roman world, were all considered by the people, as equally true; by the philosopher, as equally false; and by the magistrate, as equally useful. And thus toleration produced not only mutual indulgence, but even religious concord."


 

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