Religion

Question 1

religions in the empire

Answer 1

there was a vast multiplicity of religions and religious rites in the empire. many of them were ritual religions with many deities.

Question 2

roman gods

Answer 2

supreme god Jupiter, his wife Juno, the goddess of handicrafts, learning and the arts Minerva, the god of war Mars. originally they were not depicted but as more and more greek influence came to prevail they too depicted them as superhuman figures and the stories became very similar to that of the greeks.
the were also had many other deities called numina.

Question 3

roman religious practices

Answer 3

roman believed nothing can go wrong if the gods were satisfied so they always made sacrifices. not only did romans have public sacrifices but also private ones. they also had several colleges of priests.
the pontifices, for example, were responsible for the principal gods. the priests were roman notables.
romans, too, believed in the afterlife.

Question 4

introduction of foreign gods

Answer 4

they admitted both greek and eastern deities into their pantheon. foreign gods were often admitted in times of misfortune or if the cult in question had become very widespread. romans were generally very tolerant and only required the people to also participate in the public ceremonies and pray to the roman state gods. the only serious conflicts emerged with the Christians and Jews.

Question 5

the Christians (Jews)

Answer 5

believed in only one god. Jews were also recognizable as a nation. Jews the Romans tolerated more, but Christians with their fairly new religion were a sketchy group to the Romans.
Christians became heavily prosecuted (first prosecution under Nero). their secluded life and a state within state type of organization threatened the romans (in their own mind).