Outline – A Transition of Religion In Rome

I. Thesis
A. Religion is always changing
B. Can’t tell what will happen
C. Always open to change
II. Roman Mythology
A. Why Did They Believe In Mythology?
1. Maintain pax deorum
2. Ensure prosperity of the world
3. Gods ensured the fate of the World
B. How Was Rome Founded?
1. Story A – Romulus and Remus
a. Were sons of Mars and Rhea Silvia
b. Great Uncle puts them in Tiber river to die – Uncle
did not want them to have power
c. Found by Sheppard and wife
d. Created the city of Rome
e. Romulus kills Remus and becomes first ruler
f. Dated 753 BCE
2. Story B- Aeneas
a. Son of Venus and Anchises
b. Aeneas came from Troy
c. Was a Trojan Survivor
d. Left to Carthage
i. Queen Dido fell in love with him
ii. Abandoned her and set of home
e. Why?
i. Was thought to be true during 3rd century
BCE
ii. Rome wanted to look larger than life
iii. Created connections to Greek figures
from Trojan War
3. Tying up the strings
a. 400 year difference between the two stories
b. Virgil states that Aeneas married Lavinia, and was
ancestor of Romulus and Remus
4. The Seven Kings
a. First Seven Rulers of Rome
b. Many stories about them
c. Rape of Sabines
i. Romulus needs more wives
ii. He goes to the neighboring city
iii. Captures women
 iv. War and then peace, women liked
Romans
v. Final Name: Rome
d. Numa Pompilus
i. First to think about Religion and
Mythology
ii. Depicted as priest with long beard
e. Ancus Martius
i. The conqueror
ii. Gained land for Rome
f. Servius Tullius
i. 6th King
ii. Counted
I. People
II. Exports
III. Imports
C. The Roman Gods
1. Gods in Early Rome
a. No Distinguished Form
i. Human
ii. Animal
iii. Plant
iv. Hybrid
b. Simple with association with places
c. Worshiped without images for 170 years
d. 6th century with greek influence, human form gods
e. Same time Temples were created
f. Gods
i. Personality not important
ii. Emphasis on duties
iii. Explained life as it was
iv. Created Routines
g. The Three Powerful Gods in Early Rome
i. Jupiter
I. Similar to Zeus
II. Ruled the Sky
III. Could harness thunder and
lightning
IV. Protector of Roman People
ii. Mars
I. Similar to Ares
II. Son of Jupiter (In Greek Religion)
III. Explanation of Different Roman
and Greek Morals
iii. Quirinus
I. Not Well Known
 II. References with Sabine people
III. Later noted as Romulus, who
became a god
2. The Etruscans Send In Their Finest
a. Dynasty of Etruscan Kings during 6th century BCE
b. Rome was influenced by their gods
c. Inserted them into Parthenon
d. Worshiped them on Capitoline Hill.
e. Gods known as Capitoline Triad
i. Jupiter
I. Still had control over roman stae
ii. Juno
I. Protector of Women
II. Protector of Marriage
III. Protector of Childbirth
iii. Minerva
I. Connected to Greek goddess
Athena
II. Goddess of Handicrafts
III. Goddess of Artisans
f. Women in the Parthenon
3. The Roman Republic Influences The Parthenon
a. The Capitoline temple was the most important
i. Governors took vows to respect it as they
left to provinces
ii. Sacrifices were made to the temple
b. Roman World Brings in More People
i. Mostly Greek
ii. Others (ex. Phoenicians)
iii. Spot outside the city center
c. Castor and Polydeuces
i. Supposedly had fought at Lake Regillus
ii. Earliest battle of the Roman Republic
d. 5 Century Gods
th

i. Apollo (same name) was introduced to

the Romans (first)
ii. Diana (Artemis)
iii. Mercury (Hermes)
iv. Neptune (Poseidon)
v. Pluto (Hades)
vi. Venus (Aphrodite)
vii.Vulcan (Hephestus)
viii.All part of Greek Parthenon
ix. May have to do with their powers
e. Heroes – Hercules
i. Greek Name: Herakles
 ii. Changed story, to came to Rome and
destroyed a monster
f. Non Greek Gods – Cybele
i. Taken from Carthage
ii. Carthaginian general Hannibal
threatened to attack
iii. Rome was not prepared
iv. Priests worshiped Cybele
v. Gave her a place on Palatine Hill (center
of Rome)
vi. Rome was not conquered
4. Late Rome
a. As Rome got bigger, Parthenon got bigger
b. Savior-gods
i. Come from stories where they would
save their world
ii. Ex. Mithra
I. Persian God of light and wistom
II. Promised a new way of life if they
believed in immortal
iii. Start of branching of Roman religion
iv. Quoted with the start of Christianity
5. Emperors become Gods
a. Started very late
b. Divine Kingship
i. Came from owning more land
ii. People revere you or think you are a god
c. Julius Caesar put up a statue with deo invicto
d. He was killed the next year
e. Roman Empire became more autocratic, emperors
got infinite power
f. Sacrifices were made
g. Start of Christianity, Christians didn’t perform
sacrifices
h. Stoped with Gonstantine the Great (Christian
Emperor)
i. Theodosius I banned old roman religion
D. Roman People Practicing Their Religion
1. Stated in Early Rome
2. Was Based On The Agricultural Calendar
3. Roman Household
a. Romans prayed by themselves and as a
community
b. Every part of house has a god connected
c. Hearth
i. Vesta
 ii. Burning Food Is Polite
d. Penus
i. Penates resided
ii. Granary
e. Janus
i. Doorways
ii. Statue over main doorway
f. Romans believed if they followed these life would
be easy.
4. Roman Fields
a. Started off as farming community, fields are very
important
b. Terminalia, celebrate the fields
c. Ambarvalia, purify the household
i. Sacrifice pig, sheep, and bull, and pray o
Mars
ii. After sacrifices have a celebration
5. Religious Stages of Life
a. At Birth, men hit household with tools, ward off
evil
b. At puberty, boy sits by bulla and changes togas
c. At Marriage, Women wears a veil to protect her
through the temporarily uneasiness, through two
houses
d. At Death, a corpse was lifted by their feet, to
prevent ghost from entering
e. At the Parentalia, the dead were revered
6. The Lupercalia
a. Annual celebration on February 15
b. Takes place at Lupercal, on Palatine Hill
c. Spot where Romulus and Remus had been raised
by the wolf
d. Sacrifice goats and a dog, cut goatskins into strips
e. Clothe in the strips (men)
f. Tap women with goatskins
g. Stopped in 494 CE in the Christian Era
h. Pope Gelasius I, changed in to the Christian Feast
of the Purification of the Virgin
i. Changed date to 14th (Valentine’s Day succeded)
E. What Does This Have To Do With Us?
1. Roman and Greek merged
2. Artists incorporated this in their works
3. Virgil: The Aeneid
a. Roman Poet
b. Aeneid is a praise of Aeneas
c. Virgil portrays Zeus and Hera magnificent
 d. Unlike Homer
4. Ovid: Metamorphoses
a. Unlike Virgil wrote witty and entertaining
b. Metamorphoses was a blend of Greek mythology
and Roman mythology, describing the world from
creation
5. Today’s World
a. Opera Dido and Aeneas
i. Henry Purcell
ii. Best known adaptation of Roman
Mythologoy
iii. Represented part of Aeneid
b. Dante Spenser of England – The Faerie Queene
c. Anthony Burgess – A Vision of Battlements about
Aeneas’ journey
d. The Birth of Venus – Venus’ first sighting
e. Gianlorenzo Bernini created the Fountain of
Trition.
i. Triton uses his conch horn to end the
fight
f. Aeneas was often painted by J.M.W. Turner, who
showed him other mythological figures
III. Christianity
A. Worlds Most Distributed Religion
B. 2 billion people practice Christianity
C. How Was It Formed?
1. Founded 4 BCE, when Jesus Christ was born
2. Christianity was based on being good to others
3. Message was brought to Rome by St. Paul
4. The Early Converts
a. Life was very hard
b. Slaves or very poor
c. Christianity was a good hope
d. After Nero’s attack met in secret
e. Spread Christianity through Rome
D. Where Did the Bitterness Come From?
1. Emperor Nero
a. After Augustus
b. Extravagant and wild
c. Not hesitant to tax people
d. Noted as Cruel and Wicked
2. Pointing h The Finger
a. Fire in Rome’s slum districs
i. 64 CE
ii. Killed thousands of people
iii. Many homeless
 b. Nero thought it was a plot to destroy the Roman
empire
c. Nero used Christians as a scapegoat
d. Ordered their Death
3. Why Didn’t The Romans Adopt Christianity>
a. Revered leaders as gods – Nero disliked them
b. Christians were enemies of the state
c. 313 CE Constantine granted Christians freedom of
religion.