Roman Religion (Again)!

[HiddenDarkness34]

Hi all (and Fun Bun)! Just in case some people want to learn a bit more about Roman religion, I'll be repeating a past thread of mine in which I'll post about Roman gods (preferably regularly but my schedule is quite busy now).

To start (with the same deity again): 

IANVS (Janus) – This deity is the god of beginnings and transitions and by extension is the patron of doorways, pathways, gates, and endings. He is often depicted as having two faces, to symbolize the god’s role in looking to the future and the past. He is also associated with progression, change, time and choices, journeys, birth, boundaries and trading. This god is renowned for his temple, the Ianus Geminus (Twin Janus), on the Argiletum, a road leading from the original Roman Forum to the Subura, a district housing known to have housed lower class citizens (the road was also famous for its pickpockets). When the doors to the Ianus Geminus lay open, the Roman people (as well as those of other neighbouring or distant states) would be informed that Rome was in a state of war with another state. If the doors remained closed, this signified a time of peace. The first day of the year, January 1, was devoted to the worship of Janus, as it symbolized the start of a new year and of the kalends of Janus (Janus’ month). Gifts of dates, figs, honey, and strenae (gifts of coins). Food was also made and burnt at the altar in his name. As the god of beginnings, he was also the patron of the mornings. He was invoked whenever at the beginning of any event or undertaking, no matter its significance.

[Shadowfax2409]

Thankies for putting the "I" as the first letter in the name....#latinstudent

~Shadowfax



P.S. Really good information here!

[dethspitter40k]

Roman religion is awesome!

[HiddenDarkness34]

IVPPITER: Iuppiter, better known as Jupiter, was the king of all gods in the Olympian Pantheon. Worship of Jupiter was widespread even before the Romans, and he was worshipped by a variety of people including (most prominently) the Etruscans and Greeks under the name Tinia and Zeus (or Zeus-Ammon) respectively. Jupiter was the god of the sky and thunder. He was revered even in the times of the Roman Kingdom, said to have had frequent conversations with the second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius, who established the concept of reverence of the gods in the Roman people (respect and fear of the gods) and methodology in worship (ex. sacrifices). His symbol was the lightning bolt and his sacred animal was the eagle, a symbol that would become one of the (and later on, the only) legion standard (aquila). He was the chief deity in a group of three supreme deities called the Capitoline Triad (in the Archaic Triad he was accompanied by Mars and Janus, while in the more recent one, he was accompanied by Juno and Minerva) and well into the Republican and Imperial eras, also served as the protector of the state and divine lawmaker/sanctifier of laws (and treaties) and the witness to all oaths made. Whether it be a simple oath sworn in his name to the military oath taken by legionaries, oaths taken in Jupiter's name were considered a very serious matter and breaking of such oaths (especially in more serious cases) would be punished. Within the city of Rome itself, worship of Jupiter took place on the Capitoline Hill in a temple called the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. His priest, typically a patrician, known as the Flamen Dialis, was the highest-ranking priest within a collegiate of state-sanctioned cult of all the gods and this priest the only priest accompanied by a lictor (without fasces, however). This priest was also granted a seat in the Senate. On a basic level most Romans prayed to Jupiter simply for his blessing, be it that the individual was a soldier looking for Jupiter's protection before a skirmish/battle, or an ordinary individual working on the farms praying for good yield (though this came down more to worship of Pompona and Ceres).