Syncretism between different religions and cultures is a common occurrence during
human history, be it during times of conquest, migration, or over trade networks like the Silk
Road. Famous examples of this include the cultural syncretism between Norse settlers and Frankish
natives in Normandy, or the merging of indigenous and Spanish cultures in colonial South America.
However, perhaps the single most famous example of cultural syncretism in world history
is the impact that the Ancient Greeks, or Hellenes, had upon the society of Ancient Rome.
This Greco-Roman religious syncretism had an effect on important religious practices and
social norms in the Roman state for centuries to come, while some of its principles transcended
Rome itself, surviving to this day in one form or another in various parts of the world.
Welcome to our second video on the historical development of the religion of the ancient Romans,
where we will focus on the development and sophistication of the Latin rites from the
middle to late Republican and early Imperial eras,
with a focus on the monumental impact of Greek mythology on the spiritual landscape of Rome.
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Greek culture had always been in Rome’s general neighborhood, with the Hellenes having set up
colonies in Southern Italy as early as the 8th century BCE. By the 4th century BC, Rome had
emerged as the biggest player in the peninsula, coming to dominate other Italian peoples like
the Etruscans and the Samnites, and by the 3rd century BCE, had brought the Hellenes of Magna
Graecia into their domain. Consequently, educated Greeks slaves were taken in by Roman families to
serve as tutors, introducing new generations of Roman children to the Greek religion. Considering
the fact that Hellenic culture in Greece proper was reaching its apex during the 3rd century,
it is of no surprise that the Roman religion came under such extensive Greek influence.
The impact of Greek religion on Latin beliefs can be observed in the transformative effect
it had on the mythological canon surrounding Roman Gods. While the early Romans had some
mythology in their religion, the overwhelming majority of it was concerned not with their Gods,
but with their mortal founders, Romulus and Remus, and the second king, Numa Pompilius.
As we have mentioned in the previous video, early Roman gods did not have any specific
personalities or relationships with each other, and it is uncertain whether they
were even depicted with anthropomorphic human forms. On the other hand, the Greeks
had a well-developed and expansive mythology dating back as far as the previous millennium.
As such, Romans began identifying their Gods with the Greek ones, and used Greek
mythological canon to answer new questions about their Gods’ aspects and personalities previously
left blank by older Roman folklore. Similar to Zeus, Jupiter became the god of the sky,
wielding thunderbolts and having an eagle as a companion. Juno was his sister-wife and the
goddess of fertility, wealth and community – in essence she was the equivalent of Hera. The last
of the Capitoline triad, Minerva, was equated to the Greek goddess of wisdom and strategy,
Athena. Other Greek gods became the basis for their Roman counterparts as well – Neptune became
the Roman version of Poseidon, Mars became the equivalent of Ares, Dis Pater the equivalent of
Hades, and so on. The Divine twins of Greek mythology were also directly adopted by the
Romans, retaining their original names – Castor and Pollux. The Dioscuri, as they were known,
were the patrons of sailors and appeared to men at sea through a weather phenomenon known today
as St. Elmo’s fire. For the Romans, they were also connected with hospitality and horsemanship.
One notable exception to all of these parallels is Apollo. Apollo was not given a Roman “identity”
but was treated instead as he was in Greek mythology. This may be due to the fact that
the Romans had already known of Apollo from as early as the 6th century BC,
with there being a shrine or temple dedicated to him in Rome at the time. The myth surrounding the
arrival of Apollo in Rome is connected to the Sybil of Cumae. During the reign of Rome’s last
king, Tarquin, the Sybil of Cumae, who presided over the oracle of Apollo, arrived in Rome.
She brought with her 9 books of prophecy and offered to sell them to Tarquin. Deeming her price
too high, the king refused. The Sybil promptly burned 6 of the 9 books and at that point, Tarquin
reconsidered. He bought the remaining three. The Romans consulted these books in times of crises.
They were, however, when, a millenia later, the western half of the Empire collapsed in 476AD.
Although it is easy to assume that, at some point, the Roman gods became exact copies of their Greek
counterparts, the reality was slightly different. In spite of their identification with the Greek
gods, Roman gods still had far less elaborate and colorful mythologies. For example, there is
relatively little known about Jupiter’s childhood, whereas Zeus’ childhood is known in detail.
Jupiter’s proclivity for sexual escapades is also less emphasized than his Greek parallel. This is
not due to the fact that the Romans lacked the creativity to add those stories, but due to a
lack of interest. Ever the pragmatists, the Romans were not particularly interested in
the gods’ personalities and what their origins were. Instead, they focused on pietas – piety.
For the Romans, their priority when it came to religion was that they perform their duties
towards the gods as correctly as possible in order to appease them and receive good fortune.
As for morality, the Romans did not derive it from the dogma of their religion. Nevertheless,
they still had certain norms as to what can be considered appropriate and inappropriate behavior.
Another way by which the Greeks influenced the Roman religious landscape was their contributions
in jumpstarting the popularity of many local cults devoted to foreign Gods, both Greek in origin,
or from further afield in Africa and Asia. The most notable of these cults were the
cults of Mithra, Bacchus, Cybele, Isis and Serapis. Some of them did quite well. Cybele,
a mother goddess from Asia Minor, found its way to Rome after spreading throughout the Greek world.
Initially, the cult was banned due to some unsavory practices, such as the castration of its
priests, but the Romans adopted her cult after the Sybilline oracle recommended doing so in 205 BC,
renaming her as Magna Mater. Magna Mater was later reinvented as a Trojan goddess,
giving her a great amount of legitimacy. Other cults did not see the same success. The cult
of Bacchus was extremely popular at the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 2nd century BC.
His cult was most likely derived from Dionysus, the Greek god of wine.
Followers of the Bacchus cult regularly engaged in hedonistic acts. Bacchus’ festival, the
Bacchanalia was a period of great disinhibition and depravity. In fact, the word Bacchanalia is
used for acts of debauchery to this very day in many languages. In 186 BC, the Roman senate
decided that the cult was dangerous and had a corruptive influence on Roman society. The cult of
Bacchus was subsequently suppressed and as many as 4000 people in Italy were executed in the purges.
As Greek influence protruded deep into every crack of Roman religion and myth, it also came
to influence how the Romans understood their own history as the cornerstone of Greek mythology,
the Iliad, was woven into the founding of Rome itself. According to Roman mythology, the Homeric
hero Aeneas came to Latium after the fall of Troy and married the daughter of a local king. Their
descendants were the legendary founders of Rome. As Aeneas’s mother was thought to be Aphrodite,
it meant that Romulus and Remus were also descended from the Greek counterpart to Venus.
Aeneas also is said to have brought with him the Palladium, a cult image of Minerva (Athena).
This Palladium represented one of Rome’s pignora imperii, or pledges of rule in
English. They were supposed to guarantee the continued power of Rome. An object believed by
the Romans to be that very Palladium was kept in the inner sanctum of the temple of Vesta.
Indeed, these relations between humans and gods did not stop there. Servius Tullius,
one of the kings of Rome, was thought to have been a lover of the goddess Fortuna,
the Roman equivalent of Tyche. Julius Caesar, tracing his roots back to Aeneas,
was also stylized as a descendant of Venus, the goddess of love and beauty.
Let us take a brief aside to talk about religious architecture: Contrary to popular belief,
Roman temples were not overly similar to Greek temples. The only noticeable Greek influence on
Roman temples is the columns. The arches, however, were usually built in the older Etruscan style.
Roman temples, though generally larger than Greek ones, had much smaller inner chambers. This is
likely due to the fact that the insides of Roman temples were not accessible to the wider populace,
as public ceremonies were generally outside. The temples were also considered to be the dwellings
of the gods themselves, so it is of no surprise that only a select few were allowed to enter.
Temples in Rome were sacred places, but it is worth noting that what the Romans considered
sacred may differ from what people in the modern world consider sacred. For the Romans, anything
action, secular or religious, that was done for Rome or its people was considered sacred. As such,
government and faith blended seamlessly, as the senate would occasionally hold meetings in a Roman
temple if the topic discussed concerned the god or gods in question. State economics were also
bound up in state spiritualism, as the Roman treasury was housed in the temple of Saturn,
the god of time, wealth and abundance. With the evolution of the Roman Republic
and the city of Rome, the Roman religion’s rituals underwent great expansion,
refinement and improvement. The Roman gods became more complex, and standards and norms
became formalized for rituals regarding those gods both in state and personal religious practice.
Grand rituals required a great number of participants and people would flock from
distant parts of the realm to take part in them. The rituals could not be held if favorable
auspices were not observed by two persons working in tandem. Both for public and private religious
matters, the ritual would start at the beginning of the day. An exception to this is sacrifices,
which were considered magic, and usually took place at night and in secret.
At first, the celebrants would wash themselves and put on their special ceremonial robes.
Special ceremonial robes, according to Roman rites, consisted of a citizen toga,
draped so that the arms would be free and the head would be at least partially covered.
Once all preparations were complete, a procession of the faithful moved towards the altar of
the god that was to be honored. The celebrants poured wine and incense into a portable hearth.
The hearth represented the identity of the celebrants, indicating to the gods who was
honoring them at that specific ritual. This part of the ritual is known as the praefatio.
The second part was known as immolatio, and was when the actual sacrifice would take place.
The animal victims were usually cattle, pigs, goats or sheep.
In the vast majority of cases, the sex of the animal had to correspond to the sex of the god.
Most male gods required a castrated male animal to be sacrificed, but Mars, Janus and Neptune
were offered beasts with their genitalia intact. The gods of the upper world received white furred
animals, while gods of the underworld, like Dis, were associated with dark coated animals.
Plants, liquids and incense were also considered suitable sacrifices. The age of the animal
victims depended on whether it was a public or private ritual and on the social standing of the
celebrant. The animal’s back was sprinkled with a type of salted flour known as mola salsa, and wine
was poured to run along its brow. The celebrant then ran the sacrificial knife along its spine.
This represented a transfer of the animal from human property, which the mola salsa represented,
to the property of the gods, which the wine represented. Once this transaction was completed,
a sacrificer would strike and bleed the animal. If the animal showed any fear or panic during this
process, it would be considered an ill omen. Once the animal was dead, it was placed on
its sides and disemboweled. If the entrails were intact, the sacrifice was accepted by the gods.
In the situation that there were abnormalities with the entrails, the sacrifice would be
annulled. During certain rituals, the entrails would also be inspected for the act of haruspicy.
The entrails, which were considered to belong to the gods, were subsequently cooked. Depending on
which gods were honored, those entrails were later either burned in the altar’s sacrificial fire,
thrown into the sea if they were for an aquatic God, or in a ditch if they were
for a god of the underworld. This entire process was accompanied by prayers, which unambiguously
specified who was conducting the sacrifice, who was honored in the sacrifice, and what benefits
were expected from the sacrifice. After the sacrifice, a sacrificial banquet would be held.
As Roman religious rites became more and more elaborate, the ability of powerful individuals
to leverage religious influence for political power grew. As mentioned in the previous episode,
the position of the Pontifex Maximus, or High Priest, was the most powerful position in the
religious hierarchy of Rome, and by the time of the 1st century BC,
also came to represent one of the most powerful positions in the Roman Republic itself.
Presiding over religious matters meant that the pontifex Maximus also presided over vast parts of
Rome’s social life. Julius Caesar used this power to fix a matter which had been causing significant
problems to the Roman state, the calendar. In 46 BC, Caesar, together with Sosigenes of Alexandria,
devised one of the most useful and precise calendars in history. The basis of this calendar
was the Egyptian calendar, which consisted of 12 30-day months and an additional 5 days in
the end. This totaled 365 days. The 5 additional days were distributed over some of the months.
February, considered to be an unlucky month, was also shortened by 2 days,
which were added to other months. Because they calculated the actual length of the year to be 365
days, one day was added every 4th year. The dates were still out of sync with this calendar, so in
order for it to be properly aligned, Julius Caesar added another 3 intercalary months to that year.
This made 46 BC the longest year in history, standing at 445 days. The Julian calendar,
as it became known, represented one of the most precise calendars in history,
being used to this day with only slight modifications.
The Roman religion underwent drastic changes from its archaic form during the last half of the 1st
millennium BC. The Republic and its expansion ensured that the religion would have an organized
structure and a deep influence on Roman society, however, it also ensured that the religion would
be as inclusive as possible towards the new people that joined the Roman realm. By the time Julius
Caesar had instated his revolutionary calendar, the republic was already on its deathbed.
In the tumultuous decades that followed, the Roman world and religion itself would undergo
even more drastic changes – changes that could see mere mortal men become gods. More videos on
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