Roman Gods

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The Roman Gods
of the ancient Roman civilization

The Culture of the Romans thought of themselves as highly religious, and attributed their success as a world power to their collective piety in maintaining good relations with the gods. Most Roman towns and cities had a forum, temples and the same type of buildings, on a smaller scale, as found in Rome.

Roman mythology is a mixture of general Greek and local myths about Rome and Roman gods and other Italian gods which are independent of Greek beliefs and tales. Gods and some heroes in Roman mythology often appear in Greek mythology with different names, sometimes a name of a Roman/Italian deity that largely corresponded to a particular Greek deity, sometimes with a variation of the Greek name as adapted into Latin.

Roman homes were decorated with landscapes by Greek artists. Evidence from the remains at Pompeii shows diverse influence from cultures spanning the Roman world Jupiter was the chief deity of Roman state religion throughout the Republican and Imperial eras, until Christianity became the dominant religion of the Empire

GODSheading

pantheon of Gods

demeter Corn-Mother who blesses the harvesters

Demeter was depicted as a mature woman, often wearing a crow

Mithraic mysteries
in the empire

Underground temples, called mithraea which survive in large numbers.

Dionysus portrayed as youthful and effeminate

Dionysus, also spelled Dionysos, the Romans learned from the Greeks,

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Jupiter:

The mighty king of the gods. Roman God of the Sky, thunderstorms, lightning, weather and air. Also god of law, order, justice, governance and strength. Most important god of the Romans and usually had the highest divine authority over other gods.

Neptune:

one of the brothers of Jupiter, one of the prime gods and ruler of the seas. The patron of sailors and the protector of ships

Juno:

Queen of the Gods and wife of Jupiter. Goddess of Marriage and Women. Protector and Counsellor of Rome.

Mars:

God of War, Spring and Justice. Patron of the Roman Legions and divine father of Romulus and Remus.

Venus:

Goddess of Love and consort of Mars. Divine mother of Aeneas, ancestor of the Romans.

Bellona:

Goddess of War, Conquest and Peace.

Minerva:

Goddess of Wisdom, Divine Counsel, Useful Arts and Crafts. Unlike her Greek counterpart, Athena, she wasn't a war goddess.