The Ancient Romans believed in a polytheistic religion that was ever developing as the Romans adopted gods, goddesses, and mystery cults from other cultures, most notably Greek and Etruscan. As the Roman Empire expanded, so did their religion, since they didn’t necessarily impose their beliefs on the people they conquered, but adopted parts of other cultures’ religions that they liked, and incorporated them into their own.
Early in Roman mythology, there was Saturn, who corresponds to the Greek god Cronus, the titan father of the Greek gods Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Hestia and Demeter. The early triad of Roman cult deities transformed into Jupiter, Juno and Minerva who were equivalent to the Greeks Zeus, Hera and Athena. The goddess of love in Greek mythology, Aphrodite, became the Roman Venus, and Hades and Poseidon, the gods of the underworld and the sea, became the Roman Pluto and Neptune. The Greek goddess of the hunt Artemis became the Roman Diana, Ares the war god became the Roman god Mars, Dionysus the Greek god of wine, theatre and madness, became Bacchus, and Hermes, the messenger god, became Mercury. The only Greek Olympian god to keep his name was Apollo.
— CHAPTERS —
0:00 Introduction
0:56 The Early Roman Religion
1:46 Roman Adoption of Foreign Deities
4:07 The Ancient Roman Pantheon
6:59 Roman Cults and Worship
9:51 Roman Influence on the Christian Church
11:34 Outro
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