Religious Atmosphere of The Roman Empire

Religion Basics and Grass Roots

Roman Religions

Traditional Religious Experience

• Religion was a staple within the Roman experience.

• The Roman people were very religious, and religion was a part of every aspect of life.

• For example, in the modern world religion and politics are separated from one another, but in Roman times they were one in the same.

Pontifex Maximus

• One way of demonstrating this is looking at the position pontifex maximus. The pontifex maximus was the position of high priest in ancient Roman religion.

• This was a lifetime post and the duties where to administer religious laws and facilitate sacrifices and rituals for the religion .

• This position, which included significant religious duties, was held by Julius Caesar, Augustus, and other future emperors.

Religious Experience• Interesting enough, priestly positions were not an official

profession; rather, these positions were held by a prominent political person, which makes the religious atmosphere of Rome unique from other cultures.

• Religion was not just intertwined with politics, but everything else.

• Athletic events were considered religious activities. The Roman calendar was full of religious holidays. Life in Rome was built upon religion and religious activities.

• Similar to the Bible belt where on every street corner there is a church, in Rome every corner had a temple for the Roman gods.

Religious Experience• Another aspect to the Roman religious experience is their

openness to other gods. • Roman religion was a non-exclusive religion. • The Romans were known for their worship of many gods and

their acknowledgement of even more. • There were some gods, like the “state gods,” who received

more attention than others. • The “state gods,” Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, were highly

worshipped within the city of Rome for they were thought to be the key to the success of Rome. Other gods were important and needed attention as well, which explains why the Roman calendar was full of religious holidays.

Religious Experience• In the Roman religious experience the

relationship between the gods and humans was completely different from a modern view.

• In their view, the relationship was mutual. If someone needed something, like bread, the person would go to the temple of that particular god that was known to provide food, offer a sacrifice, and then that god would reciprocate by providing for his or her need.

Religious experience• This does not mean that everyone’s needs were answered

though. • It was well known that the gods were fickle and there was

no guarantee that they would answer a person’s request, but the Roman concept and practice of honoring the gods demonstrated this idea of having a mutual relationship.

• This process did not imply that gods not worshipped were less important. The focus however, was on the gods who were believed to be able to effect an outcome for the worshipper. In many ways, this practice mirrored the patronage and benefaction system in place for Roman society.

Religious experience• Furthermore, devotees of one god could just as well

honor any other gods that they wanted.• In Roman culture honor was given at the discretion

of the devotee. If they needed something from one particular god, they would go to that god’s temple and honor him.

• If they needed something from a different god, then they would go over to the other god’s temple. Roman religions were non-exclusive. As has been demonstrated, religion was woven into the fabric of everyday life, and even into the affairs of the state.

religious Practice• Knowing that religion was in every part of

Roman life, what did their practices and look like?

• What were the nature of the gods?

Religious Practice• Roman religion was a religion of doing • The Roman religious experience was centered

upon sacrifices and rituals. This was the means by which the gods were most honored.

• Where as in the monotheistic religions belief is a main component, to the Roman religions, belief was good but not of utmost importance for the success of the religion.

Religious Practice• As Simon Price writes, “’Belief’ as a religious

term is profoundly Christian in its implications; it was forged out of the experience which the Apostles and Saint Paul had of the Risen Lord. The emphasis which ‘belief’ gives to spiritual commitment has no necessary place in the analysis of other cultures.” S. R. F. Price, Rituals and Power: The Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984), 11.

Religious PRactice• When understanding an ancient culture’s

religion, like that of the Romans, people must realize their own lens they are seeing things through and seek to look at the different culture based purely on its own unique framework.

• In ancient Rome, belief was good to have, but it was more important to actually practice the religion through sacrifices and rituals. This seems opposite from what Christianity contends that religion is based upon what one believes.

Religious Practice• Belief was not the only aspect that was not of

huge importance in ancient Rome; the necessity for emotion was another one.

• It was not necessary for devotees to have an emotional attachment to the gods they were honoring. This is another element modern readers need to be mindful of when looking at ancient Roman religions. The notion that emotion is an essential part of any religious life is not necessarily true.

Religious PRactice• As Price comments, “The criterion of feelings and

emotions as the test of authenticity in ritual and religion is in fact an appeal to the Christian virtue of religio animi, religion of the soul, that is, the interiorized beliefs and feelings of individuals… That is to apply the standards of one religion to the ritual of another society without consideration of their relevance to indigenous standards.”

• What Price says is vital to understanding the religious atmosphere of Rome. The “indigenous standard” in ancient Rome was one of doing.

Religious Practice• This is not to say that belief and emotion were

not possible and lacked any sort of value, because it was possible that those elements were a part of the people’s practice, but the point is that it was not essential to the religion.

• What was essential was that the gods received the proper rituals and sacrifices. Rituals were a way for ancient Rome to conceptualize the world, while sacrifices were a way of displaying religious honor (KEY POINT)

Religious PRactice• The purpose behind this was to mark a distinction

between god and man, showing that the one receiving the sacrifice was superior to the one giving it. This was the means by which the Romans were able to relate to the gods.

• “Certainly some notion of belief is involved. The Romans believed what they were doing was of value; otherwise they would not have done it. However, this was not a unique belief in contrast to other beliefs. It was the worldview of the empire. It simply was the state of affairs “ Fantin, 93.

Nature of the Gods• If rituals and sacrifices were what marked the

distinction between god and man, what was the nature of the gods?

• The nature of the Roman gods was vastly different from the nature of the gods found in modern monotheistic religions.

Nature of the Gods

• The Roman/Greek gods were more human-like and had limited abilities.

• They sometimes needed to be persuaded by other gods to act.

• They could be impulsive.• They had limited

knowledge.• In fact, in some instances

some of the gods are hurt in battle.

Nature of the Gods• In the Roman religion, there was a not a god

who created the world and the universe, like the God in the monotheistic religions does.

• Instead, the world and the universe were already in existence when the gods came into power.

• The reason why people honored the gods through rituals and sacrifices was due to the status gap between themselves and the divine.

Nature of the Gods• These gods were still leaps and bounds ahead

of their devotees in status. • These gods, although not as mighty seeming

as the monotheistic gods, still had the ability to act on behalf of human beings.

• Even with these gods being temperamental and impulsive like humans, they still were to be honored by the standards of the Roman religion.

grass rootsReligious Underground

superstition• Far more important for daily life than the

Olympian deities or the major imports of the east were the innumerable demons and malevolent spirits

• These had to be kept at bay or placed as best one could

• By “superstition” we mean a great variety of quasi-animistic folk beliefs and magical practices that are at a variance with traditional conceptions of Greco-Roman “orthodoxy” and that were commonly disparaged by the intelligentsia of first-century society

Superstition• This was seen amongst the masses• In fact, the townsfolk, travelers, merchants, and

magistrates whom the Apostle Paul encountered daily were deeply superstitious and envisioned the spiritual universe as a vast, multistoried insula with swarms of supernatural beings occupying the floors above and below them.

• Most of us would find it difficult to take seriously the idea that burying a frog at an intersection could prevent a fever or that the ground where lightning strikes is sacred or comprehend why a host would abruptly pour wine under the table and change the rings on his finger after hearing a cock crow

Superstition• Yet these beliefs and actions made sense to the ancients

and were rational in the kind of universe they inhabited: an enchanted universe; a universe where the line between the spiritual and physical was only fainted drawn and easily crossed

• Much of the upper class/philosophers looked down upon the superstitions held by the masses

• Ex.: Plutarch (Greek historian) writes, “But the ridiculous actions and emotions of superstition, its words and gestures, magic charms, spells, rushing about and beating of drums, impure and outlandish penances and mortifications at the shrines make one wish there were no gods!”

Magic• In order to understand the religious context in which

primitive Christianity emerged, one must reckon seriously the widespread practice of magic, divination, and all manner of related paranormal activities

• The principal varieties of magic in Greco-Roman antiquity were: protective magic (protection from evil spirits, black magic, illness), imprecatory magic (invoking curses on an enemy or competitor), and love magic (compelling affection in one another)

• The common denominator among all these is the belief that one can manipulate the gods through the correct execution of secret rites and incantations

Magic• The practice of injurious black magic was not

strictly legal, and perpetrators of such mischief could face criminal prosecution

• Yet traffickers in magic and black arts were in high demand

• Both Suetonius (historian) and Horace (a roman poet) refer to entire books devoted to sorcery and spells, and understanding the abundance of such works considerably illuminates the great magical bonfire in Acts 19:19

divination• Knowledge of future events, the revelation of hidden truth,

supernatural guidance in pressing decisions… the first-century pagans had devised a great many methods for plumbing the depths of the mysterious unknown

• Spiritists, mediums, and soothsayers were in plentiful supply, and not surprisingly, there was both a low-rent and a high-rent district for psychic pursuits

• “If the woman be of humble rank, she will promenade between the turning posts of the Circus Maximus; she will have her fortune told, and will present her brow and her hand to the seer who asks for many an approving smack. Wealthy women will pay for answers from a Phrygian or Indian augur well skilled in the stars and the heavens” Juvenal, Sat. 6.582-86

divination• Official divination was a venerated and hallowed form of

discerning the will of the gods and occupied an important place in Rome’s social and political history

• It involved, principally: studying the flight patterns and eating habits of birds (augury), examining the entrails of animals (haruspicy), and observing significant cosmological phenomena (lightning, eclipses, earthquakes)

• In Cicero’s On Divination, we see divination elevated to a science, complete with methods, rules, and procedures

• Divination was not confined to cities, political aristocracy, and the leaders of the empire. Diviners were also common figures in the forums and farmlands of the Roman world

Oracles• Oracles, dreams, and astrology were also common currency in

the first century, and the surviving evidence indicates that nearly everyone made at least some use of this preternatural tender

• Consulting an oracle, like that of Apollo at Delphi, or the Sybil at Cumae, or Asclepius at Epidarus, was a time-honored tradition in antiquity and considered to be a valid means of finding a divine answer to a perplexing dilemma

• Dreams, in fact, were commonly held to be messages from the gods, and this is not only by the superstitious and unsophisticated masses.

• Plutarch calls dreams, “the most ancient and respected form of divination”

• Suetonius believed that “dreams come from Zeus”

Omens• If dreams were the common

currency of popular superstition, then omens and portents were the coins exchanged by all and various kinds, from peasant cobblers to provincial aristocrats

• An ill omen or a favorable portent could take almost any form, and so great care was taken to recognize and interpret any premonitory sign

• The desire to avert an evil omen or ward off a malicious spirit generated a huge industry where amulets, talismans, and protective charms were common fashion accessories

Astrology• Predicting the future by means of the stars in an

ancient form of divination and one that was particularly important in the NT era.

• The emperors Tiberius and Nero were avid devotees of astrology, and in the case of Tiberius, Suetonius remarks that this led to “neglect of the gods and religious matters… being convinced that everything was in the hands of fate.”

• Ancient writers regularly refer to superstitious stargazers and street corner astrologers ready to plot one’s destiny or one’s day according to the zodiac or some other astral phenomena

Astrology• Horoscopes were often drawn up at the birth

of a child, providing the anxious parents a portent of what the future would hold

• Although the science of astrology was truly complex, involving precise calculations based on the position of the planets, its popularity issued from the conviction that one’s fate, fortune, character, and temperament were determined by the heavenly body, often conceived as deities

What do we see?• A culture with a huge diversity of religious

notions.• A culture seeping with religion.• This was what the early church was facing.

NT Context• The philosophical conflict between paganism

and Christianity would have been constant and felt at virtually every level of social engagement

• The Judeo-Christian worldview that Paul introduced to Corinth, Thessalonica, Ephesus, and other communities around the rim of the Aegean would have been the religious equivalent of a Copernican revolution for inhabitants of these cities, Jews excepted.

Nt Context• At every crossroads, at every doorway, in

every tavern and in every shop the new believer would be confronted with the symbols and assumptions of an unremittingly polytheistic world

• The challenge for contemporary readers (although never fully attainable, granted) is to attempt to hear Paul’s letters with pagan ears and so better appreciate the impact of their message on their original readers

NT Context• Stoics proclaimed Zeus as the father of humanity, and

the coins jingling in first-century pockets heralded the emperor as the divine father

• For example, most readers today take for granted beliefs such as a bodily resurrection, divine providence, God as Father, or God as provider, but in the Greco-Roman world each of these notions was either ascribed to other deities or rejected

• The Athenians scoffed at the idea of a bodily resurrection (Acts 17:32), and in Corinth some believers had a difficult time accepting it (1 Cor 15:12)

NT CONTEXT• Providence and fate were believed to be

determined by the stars, or perhaps the goddess Fortuna/Tyche

• To the Corinthians, whose city boasted an elaborate sanctuary to Demeter, provider of grain and bountiful harvests, Paul’s assurance that “he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also increase your store of seed” (2 Cor 9:10) might have caused deliberate, sincere reflection that it no longer does to us

Magic in acts• Many of the Athenian sophisticates scratched their heads

and wondered, “What is this babbler trying to say?” (Acts 17:18)

• Throughout the book of Acts the supremacy and power of the gospel is emphasized over any rival claimant while quietly reminding us of the wealth, influence, and status of successful magical practitioners in the Greco-Roman world.

• There are episodes featuring shamans, exorcists, and diviners that further illustrate the religious experience of the ancient world

• Acts 8: 4-25 (In Samaria); Acts 13:4-12 (On Cyprus), Acts 16:12-16 (In Philippi), Acts 19:11-20 (In Ephesus)