The words Rome and Religion are inseparable, because for close to two thousand years Rome has provided an admirable balance of practical attitude and faith towards religion, which is unmatchable by that of any other ancient society. Roman religion prior to earlier understandings was of its own and was not based on any one central belief. The ancestry of their religion came from mixture of fragmented rituals, taboos, superstitions and traditions from many sources. Allowing religion to be so prominent was it’s acceptance to a variety of religious practices and in most cases incorporating them into its own. Some of these roots can be traced back to the Gods and Goddesses from E

Being closely connected to government meant that in Ancient Rome, religion played a large part of the decision making in the Army. The army was arguably the pillar of stability for Rome allowing it to grow from a small settlement to an Empire. Before a battle of any sort, one of two ceremonies took place. They would either ask the God of war, Mars for success by performing a sacrifice at his temple. In the event that something was to go wrong, the ceremony would be repeated from the beginning. Bulls, sheep and pigs were sacrificed and their organs were inspected for signs indicating if Mars was please or not. The priest would administer the inspection and if the result were negative they wouldn’t proceed in battle. The second took place just prior to the battle, usually on the same day. The general in charge of the battle would consult special hens that had been blessed by a priest. They were given corn and refusal to eat meant the battle would be lost. Therefore would not be endeavored.

Religion and politics in Rome worked very closely together making it almost impossible to be involved highly with one and not the other. This tight relationship made religion and its practices therefore more significant. Below the head of State religion known as the Pontifex Maximus were his four religious colleges which were in fact selected amongst distinguished politicians. Chosen at a young age from Patrician families were the Vestal Virgins. There were six of them and their foremost duty was to guard the sacred fire in the temple Vesta. However, the strangeness of having six virgins protect a flame is not even recognizable to the enormously harsh punishment if they were to commit a “crime”. If the flame was let go out, they would be whipped. And, they had to remain virgins; their punishment for breaking their vowel of chastity was to be walled up alive underground. But the honor and privilege surrounding the vestal virgins was massive. A situation demonstrating the importance and power of religion is that if any criminal condemned to death saw a vestal virgin they were automa

Some topics in this essay:
Ancient Rome, Southern Italy, Vestal Virgins, Rome Romans, Roman Empire, Rome Religion, River Rome, Ancient Romans, Maxentius Constantine, Rome Empire, vestal virgins, gods goddesses, official business, worship gods, religion people, religion rome, towards religion, religious practices, power religion, dead ancestors,