CLASS 20B Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Glossary Of Ancient Roman Religion, Antoninus Pius, Haruspex
6/7/18 - Lecture 17
Roman Religion and the Christians
Principles of Roman Religion
- Fundamental idea:
pax deorum →
“peace with the gods”
- “Pax” = agreement/contract
- Measure the state of the peace of the gods by practice of divination
- Took place before every public ceremonial to test the will of the gods → seeing if
things were right
- If not right, had to consult books to determine what was wrong & fix it
- Fixing: sacrifice
- Improper sacrifice, mispoken words during ritual could spoil treaty with gods
- Roman official piety: performance of ritual, not belief or spiritual experience
- Rested upon correct performance of ritual
- Piety: quality of being religious
- Haruspicy: religious practice of reading the entrails of sacrificed animals especially their
livers C3-2 BC
Roman Public Cult
- Divination & sacrifice
- Festivals & thanksgivings (the “triumph”)
- Imperial Cult (‘Deified X’)
- Distinction between Roman citizens vs. provincials
- Provinces: ‘loyalty’ cult of emperors, living & dead
- Citizens: ‘dynastic’ cult of deified emperor
- Emperors deified only upon death; can’t worship someone who is living
- Senate’s reward to “good” emperors after death
- Formal apotheosis, temple
- Soul flew up to the skies to the gods as a bird
- Temple of Antoninus Pius AD 141 → turned into a church
- Best known monument of imperial cult: Arch of Titus (AD 81)
Roman Tolerance of Foreign Religions
- Foreign “cults” imported to Rome
- Isis, wife of Serapis/Osiris (Egypto-Greek)
- Mithras (Persia/Iran)
- Seen as someone who sacrificed bull to bring order & law & justice
Roman Problems with Exclusive Monotheistic Religions
- Romans POV: these people are atheist
- Monotheistic religion rejects/denies Roman gods
Document Summary
Fundamental idea: pax deorum peace with the gods . Measure the state of the peace of the gods by practice of divination. Took place before every public ceremonial to test the will of the gods seeing if things were right. If not right, had to consult books to determine what was wrong & fix it. Improper sacrifice, mispoken words during ritual could spoil treaty with gods. Roman official piety: performance of ritual, not belief or spiritual experience. Haruspicy: religious practice of reading the entrails of sacrificed animals especially their livers c3-2 bc. Provinces: loyalty" cult of emperors, living & dead. Emperors deified only upon death; can"t worship someone who is living. Senate"s reward to good emperors after death. Soul flew up to the skies to the gods as a bird. Temple of antoninus pius ad 141 turned into a church. Best known monument of imperial cult: arch of titus (ad 81)
