Religion at Rome

Curse Tablets and Divine Intervention

• Lead curse tablets ($defixio$) used for competition or retaliation, often pierced by nails.

• Example: Raraunum tablet binds mimes, seeks rivals' inability to sacrifice.

• Example: Mogontiacum tablet seeks vindication for defrauded goods from Mater Magna.

• Gods served as arbiters of justice where human legal systems were inadequate.

• Gods played a critical role in 'secular' aspects like competition and justice.

Introduction to Roman Religion

• Religion permeated all Roman life: deities, rituals, locations (temples, shrines), and specialists (priesthoods).

• Civic religion supported state authority and public order.

• Polytheistic Rome offered individual religious choices; traditions migrated with Roman expansion.

Timeline Highlights

• BCE: Mater Magna cult (204), Aesculapius cult (292), Jupiter Optimus Maximus sanctuary (late 6th cent.), Lex Domitia (104/103).

• CE: Augustus as pontifex maximus (12 BCE), Trajan on Christians (c. $111$), Caracalla grants citizenship (212), acknowledgment of Christian/pagan worship (313), outlawing of "illicit" rituals (5th cent.).

Ritual Practice, Belief, and Divinity

• Vows: Consuls and priestly colleges (e.g., Arval Brothers) made annual vows for state/emperor's well-being (e.g., $3$ January $87$ CE for Domitian).

• Orthopraxy vs. Orthodoxy: Emphasis on "correct action" ($orthopraxy$) over "correct opinion" ($orthodoxy$).

• Pax Deorum: Maintaining a correct relationship between Romans and gods for state support.

• Divine Communication: Rituals involved conditional agreements, but gods' actions were not predetermined, reflecting their power and unpredictability.

• Beliefs: Integrated beliefs about gods' existence, power, and justice with ritual efficacy.

• Sacrifice: Non-verbal communication, often animal sacrifice.

  • Ritual gestures: $capite$ $velato$ (head veiled).

  • $praefari$: sprinkling incense/wine to incline deity.

  • $mola$ $salsa$: salted ground spelt on animal, knife.

  • Haruspex inspected entrails for divine acceptance/response.

• Pantheon Diversity:

  • Traditional gods: Capitoline Triad (Jupiter, Juno, Minerva).

  • Deified qualities: Salus Publica (Civic Well-Being), integrated into cult.

  • Deified emperors: $divus$ Vespasian ($79$ CE), part of traditional cults.

Civic Religion

• Dependence on Divine: Roman well-being linked to divine favor, demonstrated through meticulous worship ($pietas$).

• Infrastructure: Massive financial investment by the state in temples, festivals, games, and rituals.

• Historical Origins: Romulus inaugurated Rome, Numa organized public rituals.

• Evolution: Dynamic organism, changed over centuries, ceased with Christian emperors' policies.

• Costs: Sacrifices (e.g., $300$ oxen), extensive $supplicationes$ (e.g., Augustus' $890$ days), costly public games (e.g., Roman Games $760,000$ sesterces).

• Funding: State funds supplemented by magistrate/emperor benefaction, linking religion and political elite interests.

• Temples: Shared funding between state and individuals, often by magistrates on campaign (e.g., Cicero, Pompey).

• Augustan Reforms: Emphasized emperor's legitimacy through religious building projects, continuing republican precedents.

Priesthoods and Authority

• Selection: Primarily male political elite; Lex Domitia ($104/103$ BCE) made them elective.

• Female Roles: Vestal Virgins, Flamen Dialis's wife, priestesses of Ceres, imperial cult priestesses.

• Dual Roles: Magistrates and priests often the same individuals ($sacerdotes$), emphasizing continuity of political and religious administration.

• Monopolization: Emperors (e.g., Julius Caesar, Augustus) accumulated multiple priesthoods (pontifex maximus, augur, quindecimvir, epulo).

• Major Colleges:

  • Pontiffs: Supervised all ritual matters, sacred places, calendar, correct procedure. Pontifex maximus office highly important.

  • Augurs: Controlled $auspicia$ (divine will determination) and "inauguration" of places/priests/rituals ($5$ categories of $auspicia$).

  • (Quin)decimviri Sacris Faciundis: Managed Sibylline Books, interpreted $prodigia$ (divine displeasure signs).

  • Haruspices: Etruscan diviners, consulted for $prodigia$, suggested ritual solutions.

• Priestly Expertise: Not necessarily ritual experts; authority rested with the college, not individuals. Not full-time priests.

• Supreme Authority: Senate held discretionary power; Emperor's constitutional powers included religious affairs, not solely pontifex maximus title.

• Dispersed Expertise: Many external specialists (diviners, seers, astrologers, mystery cult officials, Judean/Christian leaders).

• Terminology: "Priest" ($sacerdos$) is a simplification; Roman religious authority was diversified.

From "Roman Religion" to "Religion at Rome"

• Broader Scope: Acknowledges religious practices of freedpersons, slaves, women, foreigners, and non-"Roman" gods.

• Shared Beliefs: Most people shared belief in gods' power, concerns for well-being.

• Women's Roles: Important, often independent religious responsibilities and contributions.

• Local and Regional: Religion varied widely across the Mediterranean; "Religion at Rome" emphasizes local practices and their diffusion.

• Secular/Sacred Integration: Divine world permeated living spaces, public and domestic.

• Iconography: Wall paintings (e.g., Pompeii shop entrance with Mater Magna, Bacchus) illustrate ubiquitous presence and diverse worship.

• Migration and Diversity: Rome as a metropolis saw constant influx of new deities and cults (Aesculapius, Mater Magna).

• Accommodation: Imported cults quickly adapted to local needs, creating diverse religious life.

• Epitaphs: Show variability of beliefs (Di Manes, Aramaic $nefesh$, Christian "received unto God", Epicurean denials).

• Domestic Worship (Pompeii): Shrines with $lares$ $familiares$, Genius, Juno figures. Personal choices, mixing traditional and new deities.

• Authorities' Scrutiny: Sporadic suppression of cults deemed "foreign" or threatening socio-political order (Bacchanalian affair, Isis, Christians).

• Religio vs. Superstitio: Elite distinction of acceptable vs. deviant religious behavior.

• Magic/Curses: $defixiones$ considered antisocial, sometimes legally actionable.

• Religious Pluralism: Domitian's example (Isis and Jupiter) shows coexistence and integration of diverse cults, personal choice.