By Philip Katz the author of IMPERATOR
Rome’s Religion
Rome’s religion predates the founding of the City in 753 BC, and like Rome herself,
grew out of an agrarian society which was centered on the home, family and the
family’s hearth. While one can only speak in generalities when referring to early
Roman religious practices, two concepts are considered fact; there were hundreds
of Roman gods and they did not exist as Anthropologic (human form) beings,
rather were spirit like deities known as Lares.
The Roman gods we recognize today are actually Roman adaptations of the Greek’s
pantheon which were integrated into Rome’s religion as the energetic Romans
proceeded to conquer the entire Mediterranean basin in the 3rd, 2nd
and 1st centuries BC.
Many of the early Roman’s deities were responsible for specific aspects of daily
life such as the opening of a door or the flowing of water. The literature
suggests most of these deities are lost to us, as the names of many gods held
mystical powers in themselves and were therefore only spoken during incantations
and ceremonies, and the names that do come down to us are only found once in the
historical record, possibly indicating they were rarely written down.
Rome’s second king Numa Pompilius is credited with integrating the religious practices
of the founding tribes into a unified if extremely complex state religion. He
created the priestly colleges such as the Vestal Virgins, the Augurs and the
most senior of the priestly colleges, the Pontifices which was presided over a chief
priest called the Pontifex Maximus. Certain deities had their own priests known
as the Flamens.
Complicating matters the city of Rome was sacked and almost completely razed by the Gauls, a
people from what is now France, in 395 BC destroying most of the Roman’s
written records.
Rome’s most venerated cult, throughout her Pre-Christian period, was that of
Vesta, the deity that protects the home Hearth Flame. The cult was associated
with Rome’s Good Luck and the round Temple of Vesta was located at the Forum
Romanum next to the Regia which was the home of the college of Pontifices,
Rome’s most senior priests. Within the round Temple of Vesta was an altar where
Rome’s Eternal Flame was tended by six Vestal Virgins which were nominated by
Rome’s chief priest and chosen by lottery by the Pontifex Maximus. The Vestals
served a term of 30 years and were vested with many powers including the power
to save a convicted citizen from execution.
Very often a god or goddess will have multiple aspects of their nature such as the
goddess Fortuna, there are a number of aspects of the Roman goddess of Luck such as Fortuna Publica Populi
Romani, the luck of the Roman People or Fortuna Conservatrix, the aspect of the goddess
that protects those on a journey.
The principle gods of Rome were the Capitoline Triad who were; Jupiter Optimus Maximus (Jupiter Best and Greatest) and king of the gods and god of the Roman social order, Mars the god of war and Quirinus, the deified Romulus, god of the Roman people. Their Temple was on the Capitoline Hill in one large temple building with three separate chelae.
Later, in the time of the Republic, the Capitoline Triad became Jupiter Optimus Maximus,
Juno and Minerva. It is clear from this fact that the Roman’s religion was ever
changing and integrated many beliefs from the many regions of the Empire as
time went on.
People did not gather and worship the gods as they do in
contemporary religions. For the most part the people would offer a sacrifice to
a given deity
at an altar in their home or in the temple of the deity in exchange for
some favor asked of the god such as good health or prosperity. This act was more
of a contract between the deity and mortal than an act of deference.
It should be noted that along with being one of Rome’s greatest
generals, statesman and orators Julius Caesar also held two of the most senior
and venerated priesthoods in Rome; the Flamen Dialis, Priest of Jupiter Optimus
Maximus and Pontifex Maximus.
-Philip Katz
Get the Historical Adventure Novel IMPERATOR by Philip Katz
Imperator (Victorious General) is the story of Julius Caesar’s youth before he appears in the historical record. The reader witnesses the collapse of the four centuries old Roman Republic that ruled the World but could not govern its self, through the eyes of young Caesar. It’s a young adult, action/adventure/ political intrigue story where the reader is intimately introduced to the personalities that shaped the modern world we live in. The great events are recreated and great personalities are reborn as flesh and blood people struggling with the day to day decisions that would resonate through the millennia. Imperator details the political struggles, the lust for power and the ideological fight to preserve Rome by a small group of pragmatic reformers that would result in Civil War on an epic scale time and time again.
Imperator gives the reader a fresh perspective on the life story of the man that would rise from the streets of Rome to the pinnacle of power and world domination. Witness the youth and adventures of a man whose very name would come to symbolize unrivaled power and become the coveted title every Roman Emperor to follow would assume, a man whose policy of Clemency toward his enemies would seal his fate on the “Ides of March”.
Meet the Caesar you never knew! IMPERATOR.
Imperator, by Philip Katz, Copyright 2011.
ISBN-10: 0-9832800-0-2
ISBN-13: 978-0-9832800-0-2
Publisher: Copperhill Media
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Imperator
The Life of Gaius Julius Caesar
A Novel for Young Adults by Philip Katz
“Imperator – The Life of Gaius Julius Caesar” by Philip Katz is a fictional recreation of the life of the greatest of all Romans, Gaius Julius Caesar. It is a personal memoir, the inside story of his world as viewed through his eyes, written in the first person, suppressed by Caesar’s successors, only to be rediscovered in modern times. [More...]
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