ROMAN RELIGION

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ROMAN RELIGION
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Sacrifices and presents to the gods

• People in the ancient world thought that by
  offering animal sacrifices and other gifts they
  could keep on good terms with the gods and stood
  a better chance of getting their prayers answered

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• Sacrifices were offered at all levels of society
• Here the emperor as chief priest, is leading a
  solemn procession. He covers his head with a fold
  of his toga. A bull a sheep and a pig are to be
  sacrificed
• Ordinary citizens would also offer sacrifices,
  hoping for a business deal, a safe voyage or
  birth of a child

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• In this sculpture of a sacrifice, notice the pipe
  player, and the attendants with the decorated
  victim

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Divination
This was the art of foretelling the future by
examining the victim and what happened to it
during the sacrifice

• A haruspex like Memor would be present at
  important sacrifices. He and his assistants would
  watch the way a victim fell they would observe
  the smoke and flames when part of the victim was
  put on the altar fire and, above all, they would
  cut the victim open and examine the entrails

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• The most important part of the body in terms of
  divination was the liver.
• The priests would look for anything unusual about
  its size or shape, observe its colour or texture
  and note whether it had spots on its surface
• They would then interpret what they saw and
  announce whether the signs from the gods were
  favourable or not

This is a lead model of a liver where significant
areas are labelled to help the haruspex interpret
any markings
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• This is a priests ritual headress from Roman
  Britain

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• People kept little staues of their favourite gods
  in their homes, in small shrines
• This model reconstructs a domestic shrine of
  Venus
• The pipe clay statuette is original and would
  have been imported from Gaul

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• The Roman state religion played an important part
  in the romanisation of the provinces of the
  empire
• The Romans encouraged
• their subjects to identify
• their own gods with Roman
• gods
• This is a bronze head of Sullis Minerva, showing
  the Celtic Sulis and the Roman Minerva merged
  into one