Ways In Which Religion Impacted On the Lives Of The People
Religious practices:
Religion was in the hands of state official's not individual people. In ancient Rome there were many religious posts. Each post served a different purpose in Roman religion and each one played a very important role in the organization. There were about five religious posts, which were: Pontiffs, Haruspexs, Augurs, Flamens, and Vestal Virgins. Pontiffs advised chief magistrates. They also established an early criminal code and created a calendar, fixing dates of religious festivals/special events and days of holidays. Ong states, "The Pontiffs were sometimes bribed by the politicians to create a fake month so that their term of office could be extended. If you were elected as a Pontiff your term lasted for life." The Haruspex was a priest that was highly thought of by the people. He was so important in telling the future that he outlived the civilization itself for centuries. Augurs supervised and interrupted auspices used to decide if the gods approved government action. Ong also states that "Auspices were 'omens' sent by the gods and included looking at the colour of entrails, lightning, and natural phenomenon. Originally there were three Augurs nominated, but later on sixteen were nominated. Augurs were nominated for life." Flamens were chief priests to who conducted different sacrifices. There were three major Flamens, those that represented Jupiter, Mars, and Quirinus. Vestal Virgins looked after the sacred fire of Vestal (goddess of hearth) and made sure it burned. Family religious practices: Most of the personal aspects of the religion were within family and sacred. In every Roman house there was a sacred fire. It was believed that when it stayed lit the fire protected the family. On the other hand whenever the fire went out, it was believed that terrible things could happen to them. Everyone in the Roman family participated in keeping the fire going. There were many rules that needed to be followed exactly or it was believed that bad things would happen. The Romans had to make sure the fire never died, so they always kept ashes and coals on the alter. It was a custom that the man of the house had to take care of the fire all night. Every day the family would cover the coals with ashes to keep it from consuming the fire totally. In the morning the first thing the families did was add sticks and bark to allow the fire to build up again. De Coulanges (25) states "The fire ceased to glow only when the entire family had died. Keeping the fire going was connected to an ancient belief." There were many rules to lighting the sacred fire. To begin with, it was only allowed to burn certain types of wood. Next, the fire had to stay pure, which means that no bad thing could be done in the presence of the sacred fire. There was one day out of the year where the whole family had to put out and re-light the fire right away. De Coulanges (25) states "The families adored the sacred fire. They believed it to have the power to bring them good health as well as protection. In return, the Romans made offerings of flowers, wine, victims, and fruit. Whenever the people were in trouble they gathered around the fire and looked to it for protection." The worship of the dead was another of the family religious practices. Every time a person in one of the families died they were worshiped like a god so they wouldn't be haunted for life. The family made many offerings to them and asked them for protection. The worship of the dead was a very serious ritual and there was even a law that if you stepped on a tomb of someone who wasn't in your family you must repent or the dead would haunt you. |