Roman Religion and Culture

Roman religion combined civic cult, ritual, and divination with an openness to foreign gods, while Roman culture absorbed and transformed Greek and other influences across literature, art, and daily life.

Definition

The study of religious belief and practice and of the wider cultural life of the Roman world across the Republic and Empire.

Scope

This topic covers the religious life and cultural world of Rome: the state cult and priesthoods, ritual, divination, and the calendar, the imperial cult, the incorporation of foreign and mystery religions, the eventual rise of Christianity, and the Hellenization and cultural identity expressed in Roman literature, art, and architecture.

Core questions

• How was Roman civic religion organized through priesthoods, ritual, and divination?
• How did the imperial cult and foreign religions fit into Roman religious life?
• How did Roman culture absorb and transform Greek and other traditions?
• How did Christianity emerge and eventually transform the Roman religious landscape?

Key theories

Religion as civic practice

The interpretation, developed by Beard, North, and Price, of Roman religion as primarily a matter of communal ritual and civic obligation embedded in politics rather than personal faith.

Cultural revolution and bilingual culture

Andrew Wallace-Hadrill's argument that Rome underwent a cultural transformation in which Greek and Roman elements were creatively combined, reshaping Roman identity.

History

Roman religion is reconstructed from inscriptions, calendars, religious law, literature, and the archaeology of temples and sanctuaries. Scholarship has moved away from older narratives of decline and 'oriental' superstition toward seeing Roman religion as a dynamic civic and cultural system, and has integrated the study of cultural change, Hellenization, and the eventual Christianization of the empire.

Debates

Vitality versus decline of traditional religion

Historians debate whether traditional Roman and pagan religion was vital and adaptive throughout the imperial period, as MacMullen and others argue, or whether it was in decline before the rise of Christianity.

Key figures

• Mary Beard
• John North
• Simon Price
• Jörg Rüpke

Seminal works

• beardnorthprice1998
• rupke2007
• wallaceha2008

Frequently asked questions

Were the Romans tolerant of other religions?

Romans generally incorporated foreign gods and cults into their religious system, though they could suppress practices seen as threatening to public order, as at times with Druids, Bacchic cults, and early Christianity.

How did Christianity become important in Rome?

Christianity spread gradually within the empire and gained official favor under Constantine in the early fourth century, eventually becoming the dominant religion of the late Roman world.