Lecture 18. Pax Deorum: Religion and Belief in
a World Empire
I. Space
-Romulus
and Remus:The Parilia (April 21)
-The
Pomerium: no armies inside it; no burials; no crossing
II.Conservatism
A.
Principles of Roman Religion
-Pax
Deorum (peace treaty with the gods)
-Animism:
numina (supernatural powers); agricultural gods
B.
Public / Private
-Public
Religion:“colleges of priests”,
esp.
1. Pontiffs 2. Augurs 3. XV-Men for Sacrifices 4. VII-Men for feasts + Vestals;
all Quasi-political
-Private Religion:
Lares and Penates (gods of family, grain stores)
C.
Ceremony and Formalism
-Three ways to contact gods:Prayer; Sacrifice
(sacer facio); signs (auspices)
-Pliny
(LR 161): “not a single word may be omitted or out of place”
III. The Emperor
A.
Focus on the Person of the Emperor
-Control of Priesthoods; Construction / Dedication of Temples
-Imperial household center of religious activity:Arval
Brethren
B. ”Emperor Cult”:29 BC Temples of Augustus and Roma
in Asia; Apotheosis (declaration of
divinity; divus = divine)
C.
Spread of Roman Religion:Dura Europus Calendar (LR 162)
IV. Change
A. Old Model: Romans tire of traditional formal models;
turn to personally fulfilling foreign cults
B. Importation:Magna Mater (Cybele): Phrygian goddess imported in 205 BC
Wild
celebrations; castrating priests (Galli)
Restricted
in Republic; opened out in Empire
B.
Syncretism (mixing of religious forms):e.g. Sulis-Minerva
C.
Mystery Cults (personalized religion):e.g. Eleusis
Mysteries
(muein = be silent); initiation; ecstacy; enthusiasm
Mithras:
Persian or Greco-Roman?; Seven stages; Soldiers
Isis:Egyptian
Myth (Osiris; Seth); Procession;
immortality
