Subcategories
Roman Deities
23 of 731 entries in Deities. Click any to see everything it connects to.
Citation Formats
General Reference
APA Style
BibTeX
The gods of Rome, including both the older Italic deities of household, field and boundary and the figures Rome identified with Greek gods and reinterpreted in that light. Roman religion was a matter of correct public observance before it was a matter of belief, and it is Roman naming that carries the classical pantheon into the planets and into Western astrology.
Facts
Overview
What Defines This GroupingThe 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. 2 Attestation
Era of AttestationAttested 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. 2 Veneration TodayThe public cult was ended by law in late antiquity; no continuous worship survives. 2 Learn More
The 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.
Sources
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.