Roman Religious Practises

• Religion was extremely important in the daily lives of ancient Romans as they believed the gods controlled their lives so they spent a lot of time praying and worshipping them
• Temples were usually large building with steps leading up to them and a triangular shaped roof supported by columns. Inside the temple would have been well decorated with images of gods and a statue of the god the space was dedicated to would be present also
• Lares were the household gods or spirits worshipped at the family shrine each day in an important service. It was believed these gods observed, protected and influenced the family making the family more keen to impress these gods than public ones. Art and small statues of the lares would have been displayed all around the house and on the table at meal times
• Roman rituals were organised in colleges and overseen by the Pontifex Maximus (priest) who would have also been politicians so they used such public practises to their advantage and influenced public opinion. Sacrifices were performed at an altar just outside the temple (the temple was more of a store house for the gods statue and not intended for group practises).
• Roman funerals are a great example of Roman religious practises. They were the right of passage for romans going from life to death, and they had to be done right to ensure the deceased properly reached the underworld
• 1. Funeral Procession involved bodies Dead and alive marching through streets and would have mimes, musicians and professional mourners. The richer the deceased person was the louder and more lavish the procession was
• 2. Imagines were ancestral masks worn by the actors impersonating ancestors of the deceased, due to ancestor worship being essential to roman’s view of death. The body wasn’t transported till after this step.
• 3. A eulogy would be given to a significant member of the family
• 4. For cremation, bodies would be taken to the necropolis and be burned upon a funeral pyre and its’s ashes stored in a family urn. The feast assured the deceased that he/she could go on the the underworld and the family would move on
• 5. To commemorate the deceased the government made Parentalia which was a period of days between February 13th and 21st where ancestors would be worshipped. Some families would also have their own days to remember the deceased