RELIGIONS OF THE EMPIRE ANCHIST 260360 polytheism monotheism

RELIGIONS OF THE EMPIRE ANCHIST 260/360

polytheism monotheism evocatio Camillus Veii Isis and Sarapis Ba’al Jupiter Dolichenus Porticus Deorum Consentium in the Roman Forum Coin of Elagabalus depicting his wife, a former Vestal Virgin, and a divine personification of Concordia

Cicero: ‘the gods have as many names as there are languages among humans’ (De Natura deorum 1. 84) interpretatio Romana Ceres Tellus Robigalia Probable depiction of Tellus from the Ara Pacis

Cicero: ‘What is more sacred than each citizen’s home? It houses his altars, his hearths, his Penates, his sacrifices; it is the place of his devotions and ritual ceremonies. ’ (De Domo 109) Limentius Forculus Cardea Vesta penates lararia manes genius loci Lararium, Pompeii

Asclepion, Pergamon

Parilia Pales Valerius Maximus Estimation (in red) of the pomerium at the time of Servius Tullius

Camillus: ‘We have a city founded by the auspices and augury, there is not a corner of it that is not full of our cults and our gods; our regular rituals have not only their appointed places, but also their appointed times. ’ (Livy 5. 52. 2) Arval brothers Dea Dia haruspices Sulis-Minerva syncretism Image of Sulis-Minerva, Bath

Roman representations of Isis

Wall-painting depicting Isis-worship, Herculaneum

Mithras slaying the bull (Tauroctony)

Mithraeum, Dura Europos

Mithraeum, Ostia

San Clemente Mithraeum, Rome

Mithras and astrological imagery

Historia Augusta: “As soon as he entered the city, however, neglecting all the affairs of the provinces, he established Elagabalus as a god on the Palatine Hill close to the imperial palace; and he built him a temple, to which he desired to transfer the emblem of the Great Mother, the fire of Vesta, the Palladium, the shields of the Salii, and all that the Romans held sacred, purposing that no god might be worshipped at Rome save only Elagabalus. He declared, furthermore, that the religions of the Jews and the Samaritans and the rites of the Christians must also be transferred to this place, in order that the priesthood of Elagabalus might include the mysteries of every form of worship. ’ (Life of Elagabalus 3)

Torah messiah Septuagint Philo of Alexandria diaspora Essenes Damascus Covenanters Therapeutae Qumran Dead Sea Scrolls Wall paintings from the synagogue in Dura Europos

Early Christian art from Roman catacombs Baptistery, Dura Europos