THE ROMAN RELIGION WASN'T BASED ON A BOOK OF TEACHINGS, SUCH AS THE BIBLE
OR THE KORAN. INSTEAD, IT WAS A RELIGION THAT DEVELOPED OVER MANY CENTURIES
AS THE ROMANS TOOK OVER PARTS OF OTHER, OLDER RELIGIONS. AND ORDINARY
ROMANS LEARNED ABOUT THE POWERS OF THEIR GODS THROUGH STORIES CALLED THAT
HAD BEEN TOLD AND RETOLD FOR AS LONG AS ANYONE COULD REMEMBER.
THE ROMANS WORSHIPPED HUNDREDS OF DIFFERENT GODS AND GODDESSES WHOSE MYTHS
CAME FROM SEVERAL DIFFERENT LANDS. SOME, LIKE THE MYTHS OF... CAME FROM
EGYPT, WHILE OTHER MYTHS, LIKE THOSE OF... CAME FROM PERSIA AND WERE THE
FAVORITES AMONG THE SLAVES AND SOLDIERS. BUT NEARLY ALL OF THE MOST
IMPORTANT ROMAN MYTHS ORIGINALLY CAME FROM ANCIENT GREECE.
AFTER THE ROMANS CONQUERED GREECE AROUND 140 B.C., THEY GAVE THE GREEK GODS
AND GODDESSES NEW NAMES AND WORSHIPPED THEM AS THEIR OWN. FOR EXAMPLE, THE
GOD... WAS BELIEVED TO RULE THE SEA AND ALL THE CREATURES THAT LIVED IN IT.
AND, BECAUSE THE ROMANS DEPENDED ON THE SEA NOT JUST FOR FOOD, BUT FOR
TRANSPORTATION AS WELL, SAILORS ALWAYS PRAYED TO NEPTUNE THAT THEY WOULD
HAVE A SAFE VOYAGE.
THE GODDESS MINERVA, SEEN HERE, WAS ALSO VERY IMPORTANT TO THE ROMANS. AT
FIRST, SHE WAS ONLY WORSHIPPED BY PEOPLE WHO WANTED TO IMPROVE THEIR SKILL
AT WEAVING AND SPINNING. BUT LATER ON, SHE WAS THE GODDESS PEOPLE
WORSHIPPED IF THEY WANTED TO BE ABLE TO THINK BETTER AND BE SMARTER.
THE GOD SEEN HERE IS... HE WAS THE MESSENGER OF THE GODS AND THE GOD OF
BUSINESS AND MONEY. SO, IF YOU WANTED YOUR BUSINESS TO MAKE MORE MONEY, YOU
WORSHIPPED MERCURY. AND THIS GREAT GOD IS... ...AND THE RULER OF THE
UNIVERSE. JUPITER WAS THE SON OF SATURN AND WAS THE FATHER OF SOME OF
ROME'S MOST IMPORTANT GODS AND GODDESSES. THAT IS WHY HE IS PICTURED HERE
HOLDING HIS DAUGHTER THE GODDESS MINERVA, BECAUSE ROMAN MYTHS TOLD OF HOW
SHE HAD BEEN BORN FROM JUPITER'S FOREHEAD FULLY GROWN.
ANOTHER UNUSUAL THING ABOUT THE ROMAN RELIGION, WHICH HAPPENED BECAUSE
PEOPLE CREATED MYTHS ABOUT THEIR EMPERORS, WAS THAT THE CITIZENS WORSHIPPED
SOME EMPERORS AS GODS AND BUILT TEMPLES IN THEIR HONOR. ROMAN TEMPLES
WEREN'T LIKE CHURCHES, SYNAGOGUES, OR MOSQUES; BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T PLACES
THAT ORDINARY PEOPLE COULD EVER ENTER, SINCE THE ROMANS BELIEVED THAT THE
TEMPLES WERE THE ACTUAL HOUSES OF THE GODS. AND THAT WAS WHY ONLY
SPECIALLY-TRAINED PRIESTS AND PRIESTESSES WERE ALLOWED INSIDE.
THE MAIN WAY THAT THE ROMANS WORSHIPPED WAS BY SACRIFICING A VALUABLE
ANIMAL, SUCH AS A GOAT, A SHEEP, OR A COW, AND THEN, TO PLEASE THE GODS
EVEN MORE, BURNING THE ANIMAL'S FLESH ON ALTARS LIKE THESE THAT STOOD
OUTSIDE THE TEMPLES. IT IS INTERESTING TO THINK THAT CHRISTIANITY BEGAN IN
A ROMAN PROVINCE CALLED AT A TIME WHEN ANIMAL SACRIFICES WERE STILL VERY
COMMONPLACE, AND THAT ROMANS PUT JESUS CHRIST TO DEATH BY CRUCIFIXION
BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT HE WAS CAUSING POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS TROUBLE IN THE
PROVINCE
Transcript
Follow Up Question 1:
How was Jupiter's daughter born?
Out of his forehead.
Follow Up Question 2:
Why is it ironic that Jesus was killed by the Romans who used animal sacrifice?
Because later Jesus was called the sacrificial lamb for all mankind. It is said he was sacrificed for the forgiveness of sins the same way that animals were to the Gods of the Romans and The God of Judaism.