Editing Religious pluralism (section)

==Classical civilization: Greek and Roman religions==
{{See also|Ancient Greek religion|Greco-Roman mysteries|Paganism|Pax deorum}}
For the Romans, [[Religion in Ancient Rome|religion was part of the daily life]].<ref>[[Jörg Rüpke]], "Roman Religion – Religions of Rome", in ''A Companion to Roman Religion'' (Blackwell, 2007), p. 4.</ref> Each home had a household shrine at which prayers and [[libation]]s to the family's domestic deities were offered. Neighborhood shrines and sacred places such as springs and groves dotted the city. The [[Roman calendar]] was structured around religious observances; in the [[Roman Empire|Imperial Era]], as many as 135 days of the year were devoted to [[Roman festivals|religious festivals]] and games (''[[ludi]])''.<ref>Matthew Bunson, ''A Dictionary of the Roman Empire'' (Oxford University Press, 1995), p. 246.</ref> [[Women in Ancient Rome|Women]], [[Slavery in ancient Rome|slaves]] and children all participated in a range of religious activities. Some public rituals could be conducted only by women, and women formed what is perhaps Rome's most famous priesthood, the state-supported [[Vestal Virgins]], who tended Rome's sacred hearth for centuries, until [[Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire|disbanded under Christian persecution and domination]].

The Romans are known for the [[List of Roman deities|great number of deities]] they honored. The presence of [[Magna Graecia|Greeks on the Italian peninsula]] from the beginning of the historical period influenced Roman culture, introducing some religious practices that became as fundamental as the cult of [[Apollo]]. The Romans looked for common ground between their major gods and those of the Greeks, adapting [[Greek mythology|Greek myths]] and iconography for Latin literature and Roman art. [[Etruscan religion]] was also a major influence, particularly on the practice of [[augury]], since Rome had once been ruled by Etruscan kings.

[[Mystery religions]] imported from the [[Near East]] ([[Ptolemaic Egypt]], [[Parthian Empire|Persia]] and [[Mesopotamia]]), which offered initiates [[Soteriology|salvation through a personal God]] and [[Afterlife|eternal life after the death]], 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]]", conspiracy ({{Lang|la|coniuratio}}), and subversive activity. Sporadic and sometimes brutal attempts were made to suppress religionists who seemed to threaten traditional Roman morality and unity, as with the [[Roman senate|Senate]]'s efforts to [[Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus|restrict the Bacchanals]] in 186 BC.

[[File:0 Relief représentant Mithra - Louvre-Lens (2).JPG|thumb|250px|right|Marble relief of [[Tauroctony|Mithras slaying the bull]] (2nd century, [[Louvre-Lens]]); [[Mithraism]] was among the most widespread [[mystery religions]] of the Roman Empire.<ref>G. W. Bromiley (ed.), ''The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia'', Vol. 4 (Eerdmans, 1988), p. 116. {{ISBN|0-8028-3784-0}}.</ref>]]
As the Romans extended their dominance throughout the Mediterranean world, their policy in general was to [[Interpretatio romana|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 [[Freedom of religion|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.</ref> 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]], [[Osiris]], [[Serapis]], [[Epona]]), and Gods of [[Monism|solar monism]] such as [[Mithras]] and [[Sol Invictus]], found as far north as [[Roman Britain]]. Because Romans had never been obligated to cultivate one deity or one cult only, [[religious tolerance]] was not an issue in the sense that it is for competing [[Monotheism|monotheistic religions]].<ref>A classic essay on this topic is [[Arnaldo Momigliano]], "The Disadvantages of Monotheism for a Universal State", in ''Classical Philology'', 81.4 (1986), pp. 285–297.</ref> The monotheistic rigor of [[Hellenistic Judaism|Judaism]] posed difficulties for Roman policy that led at times to compromise and the granting of special exemptions, but sometimes to intractable conflict.