Of Gods and Romans
The Romans during the time of their Republic relied on their advanced technology, social structure, leadership and politics to achieve as much as they did. To these people, their gods affected all of these factors and the relationships mankind had with them. The contractual relationship between mankind and the gods involved each party in giving, and in return receiving services. The Romans believed that spirits residing in natural and physical objects had the power to control the processes of nature, and that man could influence these processes by symbolic action. The first is a primitive form of religious creed; the second a type of magic.The services by which the Romans hoped to influence the forces that guided their lives were firmly established in ritual - the ritual of prayer and the ritual of offering. In either case, the exact performance of the rite was essential. One slip, and you had to go back to the beginning and start again. The very multiplicity of deities caused problems, as did the gender of some of them: 'wether you be god or goddess' was a common formula in Roman prayers.The motivations of the sacrifices are what of interest. Most of the time, sacrifices took place for purification, s
Then its throat was cut and it was disemboweled to ensure there was nothing untoward about its entrails. Celebration is the event that seems to be the most spectacular of all. The more startling or unexpected the sign, for instance a sudden flash of lightning or an epileptic fit on the part of a member of an assembly, the more seriously it was taken. Whether it is in joy of an enemies' death, such as Mithridates (201), the end of illness of a leader like Pompey (218), or simply the merriment that comes after large victory, we see this in Caesar's winnings in Gaul (264). During the "Woman's Goddess" festival, where no man could be in the presence of a woman, sacrilege was committed by Clodius (252 - 254). Other places such as Marica (53) were also religious locations that affected the lives of major figures. Although many details separate the Roman religion to many modern ideals, the action of prayer played a major role in this belief system just as it does today. The gods also produced omens through the actions of men. Sulla, on the other hand, had an intense relationship with the god Apollo and asked for aid on the basis of the past connection they had together (102). These individuals aided with political responsibilities and connections to the public to aid social acceptance of a particular person or issue. The vital organs were burnt upon the altar and the carcass cut into pieces and eaten on the spot, or else laid aside. The "Field of Mars" is seen time and time again as a noteworthy location where training took place (47) and honorable burial (172, 213 - 214). Rather than asking for victory, the prayer could also be much more devious. Lightning which appeared while auspices were being taken was good news, but not so if it came otherwise.
Common topics in this essay:
Romans Republic,
Aphrodite Crassus,
Capitoline Hill,
Greek Italian,
Woman's Goddess,
Field Mars,
physical objects,
natural physical objects,
bad omen,
natural physical,
74 75,
90 91,
services romans,
bad luck,
252 254,
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Acceptance Essays
