Roman religion

A Roman fresco of the Roman goddess Diana with her bow and arrow, from Stabia, near Naples, Italy. Diana was the sister of Apollo so could both heal and wound. Sudden deaths, especially those of women, were believed to be caused by her arrows.

Religious system that retained early elements of animism (with reverence for stones and trees) and totemism (see Romulus and Remus), and had a strong domestic base in the lares and penates, the cult of Janus and Vesta. It also had a main pantheon of gods derivative from the Greek one, which included Jupiter and Juno, Mars and Venus, Minerva, Diana, Ceres, and many lesser deities.

The deification of dead emperors served a political purpose and also reflected the popular concept of family and kinship ties – guardians of the national family, like ancestors, continuing to care after their death. By the time of the empire, the educated classes tended towards the philosophies of Stoicism or scepticism, but the following of mystery religions, such as the cults of Isis and Mithraism, particularly by the army, proved a strong rival to early Christianity.

The structure of the Greek and Roman pantheons are very similar, and in many cases their deities are equivalents or possess common attributes. Each is ruled by a sky-god, Jupiter (Greek Zeus), who has driven out an older generation of divine beings, and wields thunder and lightning. The pantheon is closely inter-related; Jupiter has a wife, Juno (Greek Hera), but also fathers children by other members of his family, and various spirits and mortals. Mars (Greek Ares) is the god of war, Venus (Greek Aphrodite) presides over love. Apollo is the god of song and art in both religions.