Roman Gods and Religion

 

Religion was an important part of Roman daily life. The Romans believed in many different gods and goddesses. If the gods were angry, terrible things could happen. To keep the gods happy, animals were sacrificed (killed) as offerings.

Sacrifices

Romans sacrificed animals such as bulls, sheep and pigs.

Temples

People worshipped the gods in temples where they made sacrifices of animals and precious things. The Romans believed that blood sacrifices were the best way to communicate with the gods. Sheep were often sacrificed to Jupiter.

Sometimes a temple was built to only worship one of the gods. A temple to all gods was known as a pantheon. It was named after the word for the entire collection of thier gods called the Pantheon.

A Family of Gods

The Romans thought that their gods were all part of a family and people told stories or myths about them.

The most important gods to the Romans were the Greek gods from Mount Olympus. The Greek gods were given Roman names, for example, Zeus became Jupiter.

Their gods included:

Jupiter

• King of the Gods.
• God of the sky
• Weapon: Thunderbolt
  (thunder and lightning).
• Son of Uranus
• Father of Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto
• Husband of Juno, who looked after women.

Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto were the three sons of Saturn.

Neptune

• God of the Sea and also earthquakes
• Holds: a trident, which had three prongs.
• Son of Saturn
• Brother of Jupiter and Pluto
• Greek name: Poseidon

Mars

• God of War (pictured right)
• Father of Romulus and Remus

Soldiers believed that Mars decided who won, who lost and who died in battle. They prayed to him to ask him to keep them safe from harm and to allow them to win in battle.

Venus

• Goddess of love and beauty
• Mother of Cupid

Cupid

• God of Love
• Weapon: bow. Anyone hit by one of his arrows fell madly in love.

Apollo

• God of the Sun
  Each day he drove his chariot of fiery horses across the sky to give light to the world.
• Also God of healing

Pluto

• God of the Death
• Son of Saturn
• Brother of Jupiter and Neptune
• Husband of Proserpine
• Greek name: Hades

Saturn

• God of Time
• Son of Uranus
  Father of Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto
• Greek name: Cronos

Janus

• God of doors

Diana

• Goddess of the Moon and of hunting

Mercury

• Messenger of the Gods

Minerva

• Goddess of Wisdom, intelligence and learning

Ceres

• Goddess of the Earth

Uranus

• Father of Saturn

Vulcan

The blacksmith of the gods and a god of the underworld.

Vesta

• Goddess of the hearth and home

Shrines

Many people had shrines in their houses with a figure of their favourite god. They believed it was important to keep the gods happy with gifts or statues.

 

Underworld

The Romans believed that your spirit (soul) went to the underworld when you died. To get there the dead needed to cross the river Styx. The dead person's family would give them a coin to pay the ferryman, Charon.

Festivals and Special Days

The Romans celebrated special days for gods by holding festivals, which included processions and parties. There were thirty-two Roman religious festivals in January alone. These festivals included horse racing in honour of Mars.