Curated playlist
Ancient Roman religion
- De DivinationeIn De Divinatione, Cicero and his brother Quintus argue over whether omens can predict the future.
- Magic in the Greco-Roman worldIn 13 BCE, Augustus ordered two thousand magical scrolls burned. The fire pushed ancient magicians into deeper secrecy.
- VagdavercustisA Roman officer paid to carve the goddess Vagdavercustis into an altar. The stone was found in Cologne.
- Religion in ancient RomeIn ancient Rome, one wrong word in a public prayer could force a whole festival to start over.
- PaganismThe word pagan began as Roman military slang for a civilian. It first meant someone outside the army, not a religion.
- Rhea SilviaRhea Silvia, also called Ilia, is the mythical mother of Romulus and Remus, the twins credited with founding Rome. Her name appears as Rhea or Rea in some sources, and ancient writers gave her other names too. Yet the woman behind the…
- Roman imperial cultIn 42 BC, Octavian had the Senate make his adoptive father Julius Caesar a Roman god.
- Roman templeRoman temples have been called "the most obvious symbol of Roman architecture", yet only a few survive in anything like a complete state. Every town of any importance had at least one main temple, along with smaller shrines. Building and…
- Genius (mythology)The genius of Roman religion was a spirit that someone could imagine tempted to steal. In the plays of Plautus, one character mocks another man's father as so stingy that he uses cheap Samian ware for sacrifices to his own genius. The…
- ApotheosisOctavian won a Senate vote in 42 BC to make Julius Caesar a god. That vote became Rome's standard path to divinity.
- Villa of the MysteriesWho are the painted faces in Room 5 of Pompeii's Villa of the Mysteries? One scholar sees the villa's own family.