Ancient Cultures: The Romans

A couple weeks ago, I came across a book by Frances Bernstein, Ph.D. (a creditable author who is a professor in ancient history and archaeology and also an authority on ancient Rome). Her masterpiece is titled, “Classical Living: Reconnecting with the Rituals of Ancient Rome. Myths, Gods, Goddesses, Celebrations, and Rites for Every Month of the Year”. Finally, within the pages of this book, an ancient culture called out to me, the Romans. Their culture integrated ritual, prayer, and myth into their daily lives. There was no separation of church and state. Everything in life weaved together as one.

A god, a goddess resides within each of us. When the spirit arouses us, we radiate with an inner glow–an aura. It is this sacred spirit that plants the seeds of all we are and all we do. This sacred spirit is our inspiration.
~ Ovid, “Fasti” 6.3

Part of Rome’s greatness grew out of its ability to conquer others and establishing colonies. As they conquered, they copied and borrowed from many various cultures. However, they also modified them so they appeared distinctly Roman. Two of the cultures that influenced their religion was the Etruscans to the North and the Greeks, who settled in Southern Italy. These influences explain for the reason why you encounter similar deities with different names. For example, the Greeks have the goddess of love, Aphrodite, and the Romans have Venus.

The Roman honored their deities publicly at the temple through prayer, rituals, and offerings. In ancient Rome, religious life and secular life was intimately intertwined. Statues, altars, and small shrines would be found in public buildings and assembly halls.

The Romans also worshiped before family shrines, called lararia. In the Roman world, the home was a spiritual center and in most ancient times the hearth was the first altar. Women tended these family shrines, cleaning and decorating them to ensure family deities were honored properly. By custom, three times a month, the Kalends (new moon), the Nones, and the Ides (full moon), women decorated the hearth and the shrines with fresh flowers, woven garlands, and wreaths. (Bernstein 3-4)

The spirits and deities honored within the Roman home included the Penates, the Lares, and Genius and Juno. The Penates were the guardian forces of the pantry–ones that protected the food supply. The family Lares, very special guardian spirits, were honored by each family to protect health and welfare. The guiding spirits and procreative forces that ensured the continuity of the family were the Genius and the Juno–the male and female spirits of the father and mother. (Bernstein 4)

The Roman religious life was structured by their calendar. It charted the rituals and rites to various deities, noting days of festivals, days of family celebrations, and days to honor the gods and goddesses. The sacred calendar follows the season. To live in harmony with this yearly cycle meant honoring the deities with rites and rituals appropriate to each season, and it is these rites that make up the sacred calendar. (Bernstein 5)

The oldest sacred calendars were all lunar–based not upon the earth’s path around the sun, but on the monthly cycle of the moon. (Bernstein 5)

Today, close to twenty calendars from the ancient Roman world survived and most date from the first centuries of the common era, after Julius Caesar changed the calendar from a lunar to a solar one in 46 bc. In fact, it is Caesar’s calendar, with some modifications, that is our calendar today. (Bernstein 5)

If anything, the Romans had a practical attitude to religion, which perhaps explains why they had difficulty in taking to the idea of a single, all-seeing, all-powerful god. Their religion was not based on any central belief, but on a mixture of fragmented rituals, superstitions, and traditions, which they collected over the years from a number of sources. I guess this is why they call out to me. They treat religion and spiritual in many of the same ways I do.

Additional Resources on Ancient Rome

An extremely valuable source on ancient rome is the Fasti by the Roman author Ovid, who lived at the beginning of the Common Era. This colorful narrative on Roman religion follows the religious year citing ritual and myth related to the monthly cycle.

Another source of information can be found on the web: Lacus Curtius: Into the Roman World

What ancient culture calls out to you?