Purpose: The traditional Roman religion was a polytheistic religion, centered around the worship of a multitude of gods, each of whom fulfilled a particular function (e.g., harvest, childbirth, war, women’s crafts, the Roman sewage system, etc.). The Romans believed that the success of their city was entirely due to pax deorum: peace with the gods, which meant that as long as the Romans honored their gods and sacrificed to them regularly, their city and empire would prosper. Roman religion had many similarities with the Greeks. In fact, the Romans got many of their gods and goddesses from the Greeks. A new monotheistic religion, however, began to challenge the traditional Roman religion in the mid-first century CE and beyond — Christianity.
Directions: Read the sources below that provide information about Roman religion, the approach of Roman government officials to early Christianity, and early Christian beliefs.
https://www.ancienthistorylists.com/rome-history/top-10-ancient-roman-gods/
https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/Halsall/ancient/romrelig3.asp
https://faculty.georgetown.edu/jod/texts/pliny.html
https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/Halsall/ancient/christian-cannibals.asp
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1COR+1&version=NIV
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2017%3A16-34&version=NIV
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Peter%204%3A1-11&version=NIV
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=GAL+3%3A27-29&version=NIV
Next, answer all of the following questions:
1. What sorts of rituals and festivals did the Romans have to worship their gods? What benefits did the Romans expect to derive from this worship?
2. How did Roman authorities view early Christians? What approach did the Roman government take towards them?
3. How did early Christians view Greek and Roman religion? What aspects of Christianity, particularly how Christians viewed Jesus and how to treat others, would have some Romans found appealing as an alternative to polytheism?
The use of outside sources is not allowed.
