Editing Religion in ancient Rome (section)

== Overview ==
[[File:August Labicana Massimo Inv56230.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Augustus]] as Pontifex Maximus ''([[Via Labicana Augustus]])'']]

The priesthoods of most state religions were held by members of the [[Social class in ancient Rome|elite classes]]. There was no principle analogous to [[separation of church and state]] in ancient Rome. During the [[Roman Republic]] (509–27 BC), the same men who were [[Roman Magistrates|elected public officials]] might also serve as [[augur]]s and [[College of Pontiffs|pontiffs]]. Priests married, raised families, and led politically active lives. [[Julius Caesar]] became [[pontifex maximus]] before he was elected [[Roman consul|consul]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}

The augurs read the will of the gods and supervised the marking of boundaries as a reflection of universal order, thus sanctioning Roman [[expansionism]] and foreign wars as a matter of divine destiny. The [[Roman triumph]] was at its core a religious procession in which the victorious general displayed his piety and his willingness to serve the public good by dedicating a portion of his spoils to the gods, especially [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]], who embodied just rule. As a result of the [[Punic Wars]] (264–146 BC), when Rome struggled to establish itself as a dominant power, many new [[Roman temple|temples]] were built by magistrates in [[votum|fulfillment of a vow]] to a deity for assuring their military success.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}

As the Romans extended their dominance throughout the [[Mediterranean]] world, their policy in general was to absorb the deities and cults of other peoples rather than try to eradicate them,<ref>"This mentality," notes John T. Koch, "lay at the core of the genius of cultural assimilation which made the Roman Empire possible"; entry on "Interpretatio romana" in ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia'' (ABC-Clio, 2006), p. 974.</ref> since they believed that preserving tradition promoted social stability.<ref>Rüpke, "Roman Religion – Religions of Rome", p. 4; Benjamin H. Isaac, ''The Invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity'' (Princeton University Press, 2004, 2006), p. 449; W.H.C. Frend, ''Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church: A Study of Conflict from the Maccabees to Donatus'' (Doubleday, 1967), p. 106.</ref> One way that Rome incorporated diverse peoples was by supporting their religious heritage, building temples to local deities that framed their theology within the hierarchy of Roman religion. Inscriptions throughout the Empire record the side-by-side worship of local and Roman deities, including dedications made by Romans to local gods.<ref>Janet Huskinson, ''Experiencing Rome: Culture, Identity and Power in the Roman Empire'' ([[Routledge]], 2000), p. 261. See, for instance, the altar dedicated by a Roman citizen and depicting a sacrifice conducted in the Roman manner for the Germanic goddess [[Vagdavercustis]] in the 2nd century CE.</ref>

[[File:Cybele Getty Villa 57.AA.19.jpg|thumb|left|Cybele enthroned, with [[lion]], [[cornucopia]] and [[Mural crown]]. Roman marble, c. 50 AD ([[Getty Museum]])]]

By the height of the Empire,  numerous [[interpretatio graeca|international deities]] were cultivated at Rome and had been carried to even the most remote [[Roman provinces|provinces]], among them [[Cybele]], [[Isis]], [[Epona]], and gods of [[Monism|solar monism]] such as [[Mithras]] and [[Sol Invictus]], found as far north as [[Roman Britain]].  Foreign religions increasingly attracted devotees among Romans, who increasingly had ancestry from elsewhere in the Empire. Imported [[mystery religions]], which offered initiates salvation in the afterlife, were a matter of personal choice for an individual, practiced in addition to carrying on one's [[sacra gentilicia|family rites]] and participating in public religion. The mysteries, however, involved exclusive oaths and secrecy, conditions that conservative Romans viewed with suspicion as characteristic of "[[Magic in the Greco-Roman world|magic]]", conspiratorial (''coniuratio''), or subversive activity. Sporadic and sometimes brutal attempts were made to suppress religionists who seemed to threaten traditional morality and unity, as with the [[Roman senate|Senate]]'s efforts to [[Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus|restrict the Bacchanals]] in 186 BC. Because Romans had never been obligated to cultivate one god or one cult only, [[religious tolerance]] was not an issue in the sense that it is for [[monotheism|monotheistic]] systems.<ref>A classic essay on this topic is [[Arnaldo Momigliano]], "The Disadvantages of Monotheism for a Universal State", ''Classical Philology'' 81.4 (1986) 285–297.</ref> The monotheistic rigor of [[Judaism]] posed difficulties for Roman policy that led at times to compromise and the granting of special exemptions, but sometimes to intractable conflict. For example, religious disputes helped cause the [[First Jewish–Roman War]] and the [[Bar Kokhba revolt]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}

In the wake of the [[Collapse of the Roman Republic|Republic's collapse]], state religion had adapted to support the new [[Roman emperor|regime of the emperors]]. [[Augustus]], the first Roman emperor, justified the novelty of one-man rule with a vast program of religious revivalism and reform. [[Votum#Public vota|Public vows]] formerly made for the security of the republic now were directed at the well-being of the emperor. So-called "emperor worship" expanded on a grand scale the traditional Roman [[Roman funerals and burial|veneration of the ancestral dead]] and of the ''[[Genius (mythology)|Genius]]'', the divine [[tutelary deity|tutelary]] of every individual. The [[Imperial cult (ancient Rome)|Imperial cult]] became one of the major ways in which Rome advertised its presence in the provinces and cultivated shared cultural identity and loyalty throughout the Empire. Rejection of the state religion was tantamount to treason. This was the context for Rome's conflict with [[Early Christianity|Christianity]], which Romans variously regarded as a form of atheism and novel ''[[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#superstitio|superstitio]]'', while Christians considered Roman religion to be [[paganism]]. Ultimately, Roman polytheism was brought to an end with the adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the empire.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}