Gods and Goddesses

The Romans believed in many different gods and goddesses, demigods (half-humans and half god), and spirits. They believed that each god had specific powers and controlled parts of the world. They believed the gods showed their unhappiness by sending earthquakes, hailstorms, and other natural disasters. The main god was Jupiter. He was similar to the Greek god, Zeus. They were both gods of the sky and would throw lightning bolts if they became angry.

For each of the gods and goddesses the Romans built temples. These temples were filled with beautiful treasures. Priests looked after the temples and took part in the religious ceremonies. The people regarded the temple as a sacred and holy place. Romans also built statues that represented the god's human form. The temple was surrounded by colonnades. A flight of odd-number stairs led to the entrance. Only priests were allowed inside the temples. Worshippers were allowed in the sanctuaries which were in adjoining buildings.

When people wanted to thank a god or goddess they brought gifts of animals for sacrifice to the temple.  Sacrificial animals included cattle, pigs, and sheep. The animal had to be healthy with no physical defects. They gave this sacrificial animal to the priest. The animal was killed with an ax or mallet. An assistant cut the animal's throat for the blood to drain over the altar. The inner organs were burned. Then the animal's meat was shared among the priests and assistants.

The priests prayed to the statue inside the temple. They covered the statue of the god with perfumes. Only in cases of extreme danger was the statue brought out for the people to see.

The Romans felt their emperors were god-like. Romans in the eastern part of the emperor, near Egypt and Western Asia  worshipped the emperor. In the Western Empire people worshipped symbols of the emperors in place of the emperor himself.

Inside each Roman home was a small chapel called the lararium or sacrarium. It contained an altar and hearth where the sacred flame burned. Small wax statues representing the gods were also kept in the homes.

The Romans also thought the gods lived in the sacred woods around fountains.

God	Description	Symbols	Animals	Parentage	Worship- ped	Greek Equalivant	Informa- tion
Jupiter	King of the gods, and god of rain, thunder, and lightning	thunderbolt and breastplate with a picture of a storm cloud	eagle	Son of Saturn (whom he overthrew) and Ops	worshipped in a temple on the Capitoline Hill (Monte Capitoline)	Zeus	wife Juno although had many children with other women
Cupid	God of Love	bow and quiver of arrows		Son of Mars and Venus		Eros	shot darts into men's chest to make them fall in love - often his eyes covered to show blindness for what he did
Neptune	God of the Sea	pitchfork	horse	Son of Saturn, and brother to Jupiter and Pluto	His festival, the Neptunalia, was held on July 23.	Poseidon
Mercury	Messenger and god of Trade and Thieves	holds purse, symbol of commerce - wore winged shoes and a winged cap		Son of Jupiter and of Maia	In 495 BC a temple was dedicated to him near the Circus Maximus. His festival was the Mercuralia, observed on May 15.	Hermes	had a wand, twined by snakes and surmounted by wings, that possessed magical powers over sleeping, waking, and dreams
Vulcan	God of the forge, armor of the gods, their drinking vessels, and many of their objects of ornamentation			Son of Jupiter and Juno	Temples for Vulcan were built outside the city because of the threat of fire. - At Rome his festival, the Volcanalia, was celebrated on August 23.	Hephaestus
Minerva	Goddess of wisdom, crafts, and war	helmet and armor	owl, cock, and crow	Sprung fully grown from the head of Jupiter	She was worshipped in the great temple that crowned the Capitoline Hill (Monte Capitoline) in ancient Rome.	Athena	created the olive tree - invented the flute
Venus	Goddess of love and beauty	associated with vegetable gardens		Daughter of Dione and Jupiter	Caesar constructed a temple at the Forum in her honor. - Her festival, the Veneralia, was celebrated on April 1.	Aphrodite	fell in love with Adonis - mother of Aneneas, the founder of the Roman people, and Cupid - turned people to rock for dishonoring her rites
Juno	Queen of the Gods - Goddess of women and childbirth	peacock		The wife and sister of the god Jupiter		Hera	Easily angered because of Jupiter's many affairs Her special festival, the Matronalia, was celebrated on March 1
Aurona	Goddess of the Dawn					Eos
Mars	God of War	depicted as a warrior in full battle regalia wearing a crested helmet and bearing a shield (the sacred Ancile) and lance	vulture and dog/wolf	Son of Jupiter and Juno	temple in the Campus Martius ("Field of Mars") in Rome and the temple of Mars Ultor ("Mars the Avenger") built under Augustus. - Festival on March 1 called the Feriae Marti, which was the New Year's Day in the old Roman calendar. Another festival at which Mars was honored was the Armilustrium on October 19, (military arms were ritually purified and put in storage for winter).	Ares	married his half sister - their daughter was Harmonia - The month of March was named after him.
Saturn	God of Farmers			father of Jupiter	His festival was the Saturnalia, observed on December 17, but later extended to seven days.	Kronos	Our Saturday was named after Saturn.
Pluto	God of the Underworld			Son of Saturn and Rhea		Hades	considered a fierce and unyielding god, deaf  to prayers and unappeased by sacrifices.
Diana	Goddess of the Moon and of the Hunt	young hunter, often carrying bow and arrows	guardian of wild beasts, horses and domesticated animals	Daughter of Jupiter and Latona	The most celebrated shrine to Diana was on Lake Nemi, near Aricia.	Artemis	liked music and dancing - believed to grant an easy childbirth to her favorites
Ceres	Goddess of sowing and reaping	holds a torch, ears of corn, wheat and poppies		Daughter of Rhea and Saturn			she drove a chariot drawn by winged dragons
The Muses	Calliope - epic poetry Clio - history Euterpe - flute playing Erato - lyric poetry and hymns Terpsichore - dance Melpomene- tragedy Thalia - comedy Polyhymnia - mime Urania - astronomy			nine daughters of Saturn and Mnemoyne (memory)			personified the highest level of achievement of artistic and/or intellectual minds

All Images on this page Courtesy of Forum Romanum

Romans prayed silently with their arms stretched out in front of them. They stood facing east and covered their heads with veils or their toga.   When praying in public the Romans followed many rules. An assistant read each phrase to be recited by the priest. Another assistant checked all terms that were being used to make sure they were correct.

The Romans tolerated all religions except Christianity.

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