Knowing the Roman Mythology
Roman mythology had its own unique way of thinking about their gods. Roman mythology had a distinct and complex interlocking between gods and humans. Religion of the early Romans found itself later on being constantly added to by extra beliefs.
The absorption of neighboring local gods took place as the Roman state conquered the surrounding territory. The Romans commonly granted the local gods of the conquered territory the same honors as the earlier gods. In many instances the newly acquired deities were formally invited to take up their abode in new sanctuaries at Rome.
There were only a few Roman religious festivals known from ancient times. Some of these survived to the end of the pagan empire. Many new festivals were introduced to mark the naturalization of new gods. In fact so many festivals were eventually introduced that the work days on the calendar were outnumbered. Among the more important of the Roman religious festivals were the Saturnalia, the Lupercalia, the Equiria, and the Secular games.
Most ancient Roman sacrifices were animals. But the Romans still made some human sacrfices as part of tradition. Slaves, prisoners of war and others were sometimes buried alive in a belief it would placate the Manes and the Fates in certain circumstances. After the Battle of Cannae, male and female couples of Greek and Gallic slaves were buried alive to placate the gods.
3/28/10 Giselle
Romans Choose Their Own Way
If anything, the Romans had a practical attitude to religion, as to most things, which perhaps explains why they themselves had difficulty in taking to the idea of a single, all-seeing, all-powerful god.
In so far as the Romans had a religion of their own, it was not based on any central belief, but on a mixture of fragmented rituals, taboos, superstitions, and traditions which they collected over the years from a number of sources.To the Romans, religion was less a spiritual experience than a contractual relationship between mankind and the forces which were believed to control people's existence and well-being.
The result of such religious attitudes were two things: a state cult, the significant influence on political and military events of which outlasted the republic, and a private concern, in which the head of the family oversaw the domestic rituals and prayers in the same way as the representatives of the people performed the public ceremonials.
However, as circumstances and people's view of the world changed, individuals whose personal religious needs remained unsatisfied turned increasingly during the first century AD to the mysteries, which were of Greek origin, and to the cults of the east.
Most of the Roman gods and goddesses were a blend of several religious influences. Many were introduced via the Greek colonies of southern Italy. Many also had their roots in old religions of the Etruscans or Latin tribes.Often the old Etruscan or Latin name survived but the deity over time became to be seen as the Greek god of equivalent or similar nature. So it is that the Greek and Roman pantheon look very similar, but for different names.
An example of such mixed origins is the goddess Diana to whom the Roman king Servius Tullius built the temple on the Aventine Hill. Essentially she was an old Latin goddess from the earliest of times.
Before Servius Tullius moved the center of her worship to Rome, it was based at Aricia. There in Aricia it was always a runaway slave who would act as her priest. He would win the right to hold office by killing his predecessor. To challenge him to a fight he would though first have to manage to break off a branch of a particular sacred tree; a tree on which the current priest naturally would keep a close eye. From such obscure beginnings Diana was moved to Rome, where she then gradually became identified with the Greek goddess Artemis.
It could even occur that a deity was worshipped, for reasons no-one really could remember. An example for such a deity is Furrina. A festival was held every year in her honor on 25 July. But by the middle of the first century BC there was no-one left who actually remember what she was actually goddess of.
3/30/10 Sharon
Romulus and Remus
According to the roman mythology, the founders of Rome were Romulus and Remus. The twin-brothers were the supposed sons of the god Mars and the priestess Rhea Silvia. The story begins with the deposition of Numitor, by his brother Amulius. Numitor's daughter, Rhea Silvia, was made a Vestal Virgin by Amulius which meant that she was made a priestess of the goddess Vesta and therefore forbidden to marry. However, the god Mars came to her in her temple and of him she conceived her two sons, Romulus and Remus.
As soon as they were born, her husband abandoned them in a remote location. They were unwanted because Amulius, was fearing that the boys would grow up to overthrow him, had them placed in a trough and thrown into the River Tiber They were found by a she-wolf, who instead of killing them, looked after them and fed them with her milk, the she-wolf was helped by a woodpecker who brought them food too Romulus and Remus were then discovered by Faustulus, a shepherd, who brought the children to his home. Faustulus and his wife, Acca Larentia, raised the boys as if they were their children.
Upon reaching adulthood, Romulus and Remus killed Amulius and reinstated Numitor, their grandfather, as King of Alba Longa, and then they decided to found a town of their own. Romulus and Remus chose the place where the she-wolf had nursed them. Romulus began to build walls on the Palatine Hill, but Remus jeered at them because they were so low. He leaped over them to prove this, and Romulus in anger killed him. Romulus continued the building of the new city, naming it Roma (Rome) after his own name.
Many Roman Mythology come from Greece Mythology. Who knows if this is true? Roman Mythology is also known for their customs and other things.
3/29/10 Sharon
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