Home›Roman Deities›PantheonBrowse ByPantheonThis page groups deities by the named pantheon or deity type they belong to, the specific cultural system of gods such as the Greek, Norse or Egyptian pantheon. Wikipedia defines a pantheon as "the particular set of all gods of any individual polytheistic religion, mythology, or tradition." Browsing this way lets a visitor stay inside one mythological system, or compare the same role, such as a sky god, across several pantheons at once.FactsLearn MorePantheonSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsOverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedThe gods of Roman public and household religion, a tradition defined more by correct performance of rite and by divine function than by narrative. Rome's major gods were progressively identified with Greek ones and much of the myth attached to them is Greek; the archaic priesthoods, the festival calendar and figures such as Janus and Vesta are where the native religion is clearest. 2AttestationEra of AttestationWell-attestedAttested from the sixth century BCE in inscriptions and in the archaic festival calendar; the public cult ended with the imperial legislation of 391 to 392 CE. 2Veneration TodayWell-attestedThe public cult was ended by law in late antiquity; no continuous worship survives. 2DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedDeities 1Learn MoreThe gods of Rome This group holds the deities of ancient Roman religion. Roman worship began with native Italic and household gods and a strong sense of divine functions and rites, and over time identified its major gods with those of Greece, adopting much of Greek myth in the process. The browser will find the Capitoline triad of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, along with Mars, Venus, Neptune, Mercury and the rest of the Olympian equivalents, as well as distinctively Roman figures such as Janus, the two-faced god of doorways and beginnings, and Vesta of the hearth. The entries note the Greek counterpart of each syncretised god.PantheonFilter Results2 entriesDivine HeadshipAllA single sovereign god rules the others (2)Era of AttestationAllAttested from Mycenaean Linear B tablets of the second millennium BCE naming deities such as Poseidon and Zeus, through the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods, to the closure of the last public temples under Justinian in the sixth century CE. (1)Attested from the earliest identifiable Roman religion of the regal period, traditionally dated from the eighth century BCE, formalized under the Republic and Empire, through to the suppression of public pagan cult under Theodosius I in the late fourth century CE. (1)Era of Attestation End YearAll391 (2)Era of Attestation Start YearAll1400 BCE (1)600 BCE (1)How Mortals Enter the PantheonAllOutstanding mortals are raised to divine status (1)Rulers are made gods by act of state (1)Membership of the PantheonAllForeign gods are adopted and identified with gods already held (2)Primary SourceAllHomer, Hesiod's Theogony, the Homeric Hymns, and Athenian tragedy (1)Virgil's Aeneid, Ovid's Fasti and Metamorphoses, Livy, and the surviving fragments of Varro (1)Principal Cult CentreAllNo single centre. Delphi and Olympia served the whole Greek world, and every city kept its own gods (1)The Capitoline temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus at Rome (1)Structure of the PantheonAllA descent group, the gods traced as kin from a first generation (2)Succession Between Divine GenerationsAllA younger generation displaced an older one by force (2)The Creator and the Ruling GodsAllThe generation that made the world was displaced by the gods who now rule (2)Veneration TodayAllHistorically attested; no continuous cult (2)Venerated in a modern revival tradition (1)BrowseCompareGreekPantheon1 entryRomanPantheon26 entriesSources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 12. The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 4th editiontier 1Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth and Esther Eidinow (eds.), Oxford University Press, 2012s.v. religion, RomanView the SourceDivinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.