Curated playlist
Ancient Roman religion
- De DivinationeDe Divinatione is a philosophical dialogue written by Marcus Tullius Cicero in 44 BC, and it asks a question that still unsettles us: can the future be known before it arrives? At its center is a debate between two brothers, Cicero and…
- Magic in the Greco-Roman worldMagic in the Greco-Roman world disturbed Augustus enough that in 13 BCE he ordered two thousand magical scrolls burned. The fire did not end the practice. It drove those who performed it to work in greater secrecy, and the texts they left…
- VagdavercustisVagdavercustis survives today because a Roman military officer once paid to have her name carved into an altar stone. The stone was unearthed in Cologne, Germany, and dates to around the 2nd century CE. It carries a short Latin dedication…
- Religion in ancient RomeReligion in ancient Rome was not a private matter of personal belief. It was the connective tissue of an entire civilization, woven into law, politics, military strategy, and the rhythms of daily life. The Romans thought of themselves as…
- PaganismPaganism is a word that carries the weight of centuries of argument, misuse, and reinvention. Before the 20th century, no one actually called themselves a pagan to describe their own religion. The label was invented by the early Christian…
- Rhea SilviaNumitor, king of Alba Longa, had a daughter named Rhea Silvia. Her bloodline traced back to Aeneas, the Trojan hero who fled the burning city of Troy. Amulius, Numitor's younger brother, seized the throne and killed Numitor's son. He then…
- Roman imperial cultThe Roman imperial cult bound the authority of the emperor to the will of the gods themselves. When Julius Caesar's heir Octavian completed the ceremony of apotheosis for his adoptive father in 42 BC, he was doing something that would have…
- Roman templeThe Temple of Portunus in Rome stands today as a quiet testament to the architectural lineage that shaped ancient civilization. This structure, dating from the 2nd century BC, reveals how Roman builders first adopted Etruscan models before…
- Genius (mythology)A man in ancient Rome stood at the hour of his birth and felt a divine presence follow him until death. This guardian spirit, known as genius, accompanied every individual person throughout their life. The concept extended beyond humans to…
- ApotheosisApotheosis is the word for lifting a subject up to the level of a god. High in the dome of the United States Capitol Building hangs The Apotheosis of Washington, painted in 1865, showing a mortal risen into divine company. The same word…
- Villa of the MysteriesRoom 5 of the Villa of the Mysteries contains the most complete surviving sequence of ancient Roman wall paintings from the 1st century BC. The villa stands roughly 400 meters northwest of Pompeii's town walls, between two roads lined with…