The Romans had a religion that had lots of gods: they were polytheists. They built buildings called temples to worship the gods. In the temples they had sacrifices to worship the gods. They believed that to worship a god you had to do it in exactly the right way to be heard by the gods. They had many gods. They had household gods such as Lar which was god of the house, They had a god called Janus which was for the doorway. There was also Vesta the goddess of households. The god Neptune was firstly god of fresh water but he then became god of the sea. The goddess of fertility was called Cybele. She was the symbol of earth. They made sacrifices and offered during that time. They used a flute player to drown the other sounds that could be heard. Every home had a shrine or altar so that they could pray without going to the temples.
Gods and goddesses
Bellona
Bellona was the goddess of war, she was the daughter, wife or sister of Mars, who was the god of war. She was sometimes known as his charioteer. She had a temple in Rome. It was built in the campus Martius near the altar of Mars outside the gates of the city.
Mars,
the god of war
Ceres
Ceres was the god of agriculture meaning that he was a very important
god as he is the supplier of food
Cupid
Cupid was the son of Venus. He is known because he was supposed to have fallen in love with Psyche who is a beautiful maiden. He is also described as a mischievous god who shoots other gods with his arrows and humans and they later fall in love from the effect of the arrows.
Diana
Faunus
Faunus was the grandson of saturn. He was god of fields and also of shepherds. He spoke to people through the forest and also in nightmares. He had helpers which were fauns. They were half human and half goat. He was sometimes identified as an early king of Latinum which taught his people how to plant crops.
Jupiter
Jupiter was the son of Mars. He was made god of heaven, rain, thunder and lightning. He later god rid of his father and proclaimed himself king of the gods. As protector of the Romans he was called Jupiter Optimus Maximus (The best and most high) and he was worshipped in a temple on the capotiline hill. When referred to as Jupiter Fidius he was guardian of law, defender of truth, and protector of Justice and virtue. Jupiter was compared to Zeus by the Romans. He has formed a triad with Minerva and Juno. This triad was the center of Roman worship.
Juno
Juno was queen of the gods and wife and sister of Jupiter. She was the protector of women. She was known for a few reasons and so she had different names. These names were Juno Pronuba to take care of marriage, Juno Lucina to help in childbirth and as Juno Regina counselor and protector of the Roman state.
Janus
Janus was the god of doors gateways and also of beginnings.
Juturna
Juturna was the goddess of fountains and as fountains were pretty
important she must have been important.
Magna Mater
She was referred to as "great mother" and she was the goddess
of nature.
Venus
Venus was the goddess of Love. (Similar to the Greek goddess Aphrodite)
Vulcanus
Vulcan was the god of fire which to any civilization is very important
as it is the means to cook meat and especially to heat yourself so he must have
been a very important god for the Romans too.
Ops
Ops was the roman god of the wealth and of the harvest.
Asclepius
Asclepius was the god of healing
Note: After reading this very incomplete list, you can see why they had so many holidays each year and that, eventually, they had to cut back, in orded to get some work done.
