Roman Empire

==Religion==
{{Main|Religion in ancient Rome|Roman imperial cult}}
{{See also|History of the Jews in the Roman Empire|Early Christianity|Religious persecution in the Roman Empire|Christianization of the Roman Empire as diffusion of innovation}}
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 | caption1 = A Roman priest, his [[capite velato|head ritually covered]] with a fold of his toga, extends a [[patera]] in a gesture of libation (2nd–3rd century)

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 | caption2 = The emperor [[Marcus Aurelius]] sacrificing at the Temple of Jupiter
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The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious, and attributed their success to their collective piety (''[[pietas]]'') and good relations with the gods (''[[pax deorum]]''). The archaic religion believed to have come from the earliest [[kings of Rome]] was the foundation of the ''[[mos maiorum]]'', "the way of the ancestors", central to Roman identity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eiland |first=Murray |title=Picturing Roman Belief Systems: The iconography of coins in the Republic and Empire |date=2023 |publisher=British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Limited |isbn=978-1-4073-6071-3 |page=22|doi=10.30861/9781407360713 }}</ref> The priesthoods of the state religion were filled from the same pool of men who held public office, and the [[Pontifex Maximus]] was the emperor.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

Roman religion was practical and contractual, based on the principle of ''[[do ut des]]'', "I give that you might give". Religion depended on knowledge and the [[orthopraxy|correct practice]] of prayer, ritual, and sacrifice, not on faith or dogma, although Latin literature preserves learned speculation on the nature of the divine. For ordinary Romans, religion was a part of daily life.{{Sfnp|Rüpke|2007|p=4}} Each home had a household shrine to offer prayers and [[libation]]s to the family's domestic deities. Neighbourhood shrines and sacred places such as springs and groves dotted the city. The [[Roman calendar]] was structured around religious observances; as many as 135 days were devoted to [[Roman festivals|religious festivals]] and games (''[[ludi]]'').<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bunson |first=Matthew |title=A Dictionary of the Roman Empire |date=1995 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=246}}</ref>

In the wake of the [[Collapse of the Roman Republic|Republic's collapse]], state religion adapted to support the new regime. Augustus justified one-man rule with a vast programme of religious revivalism and reform. [[Vota pro salute rei publicae|Public vows]] now were directed at the wellbeing of the emperor. So-called "emperor worship" expanded on a grand scale the traditional [[Roman funerals and burial|veneration of the ancestral dead]] and of the ''[[Genius (mythology)|Genius]]'', the divine [[tutelary deity|tutelary]] of every individual. Upon death, an emperor could be made a state divinity (''[[divus]]'') by vote of the Senate. The [[Roman imperial cult]], influenced by [[Hellenistic ruler cult]], became one of the major ways Rome advertised its presence in the provinces and cultivated shared cultural identity. Cultural precedent in the Eastern provinces facilitated a rapid dissemination of Imperial cult, extending as far as [[Najran]], in present-day [[Saudi Arabia]].{{Efn|The ''[[caesareum]]'' at Najaran was possibly known later as the "Kaaba of Najran"<ref>جواد علي, المفصل في تاريخ العرب قبل الإسلام (Jawad Ali, ''Al-Mufassal fi Tarikh Al-'Arab Qabl Al-Islam''; "Commentary on the History of the Arabs Before Islam"), Baghdad, 1955–1983; {{Cite book |last=Harland |first=P. |chapter=Imperial Cults within Local Cultural Life: Associations in Roman Asia |date=2003 |title=(originally published in) Ancient History Bulletin / Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte) |volume=17 |pages=91–103}}</ref>}} Rejection of the state religion became tantamount to treason. This was the context for Rome's conflict with [[Early Christianity|Christianity]], which Romans variously regarded as a form of atheism and ''[[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#superstitio|superstitio]]''.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

The Romans are known for the [[List of Roman deities|great number of deities]] they honoured. As the Romans extended their territories, their general policy was to promote stability among diverse peoples by absorbing local deities and cults rather than eradicating them,{{Efn|"This mentality," notes John T. Koch, "lay at the core of the genius of cultural assimilation which made the Roman Empire possible"; entry on "Interpretatio romana," in ''Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia'' (ABC-Clio, 2006), p. 974.}} building temples that framed local theology within Roman religion. Inscriptions throughout the Empire record the side-by-side worship of local and Roman deities, including dedications made by Romans to local gods.<ref>{{Harvp|Rüpke|2007|p=4}}; {{Cite book |last=Isaac |first=Benjamin H. |title=The Invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity |date=2004 |publisher=Princeton University Press |page=449}}; {{Cite book |last=Frend |first=W.H.C. |title=Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church: A Study of Conflict from the Maccabees to Donatus |date=1967 |publisher=Doubleday |page=106}}; {{Cite book |last=Huskinson |first=Janet |title=Experiencing Rome: Culture, Identity and Power in the Roman Empire |date=2000 |publisher=Routledge |page=261}}. See, for instance, the altar dedicated by a Roman citizen and depicting a sacrifice conducted in the Roman manner for the Germanic goddess [[Vagdavercustis]] in the 2nd century AD.</ref> By the height of the Empire, numerous [[interpretatio romana|syncretic or reinterpreted gods]] were cultivated, among them cults of [[Cybele]], [[Isis]], [[Epona]], and of solar gods such as [[Mithras]] and [[Sol Invictus]], found as far north as [[Roman Britain]]. Because Romans had never been obligated to cultivate one god or cult only, [[religious tolerance]] was not an issue.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Momigliano |first=Arnaldo |date=1986 |title=The Disadvantages of Monotheism for a Universal State |journal=Classical Philology |volume=81 |issue=4 |doi=10.1086/367003 |pages=285–297 |s2cid=161203730}}</ref>

[[Mystery religions]], which offered initiates salvation in the afterlife, were a matter of personal choice, practiced in addition to one's [[sacra gentilicia|family rites]] and public religion. The mysteries, however, involved exclusive oaths and secrecy, which conservative Romans viewed with suspicion as characteristic of "[[Magic in the Greco-Roman world|magic]]", conspiracy (''coniuratio''), and subversive activity. Thus, sporadic and sometimes brutal attempts were made to suppress religionists. In Gaul, the power of the [[druid]]s was checked, first by forbidding Roman citizens to belong to the order, and then by banning druidism altogether. However, Celtic traditions were reinterpreted within the context of Imperial theology, and a new [[Gallo-Roman religion]] coalesced; its capital at the [[Sanctuary of the Three Gauls]] established precedent for Western cult as a form of Roman-provincial identity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fishwick |first=Duncan |title=The Imperial Cult in the Latin West: Studies in the Ruler Cult of the Western Provinces of the Roman Empire |date=1991 |publisher=Brill |isbn=90-04-07179-2 |volume=1 |pages=97–149}}</ref> The monotheistic rigour of [[Judaism]] posed difficulties for Roman policy that led at times to compromise and granting of special exemptions. Tertullian noted that Judaism, unlike Christianity, was considered a ''[[religio licita]]'', "legitimate religion". The [[Jewish–Roman wars]] resulted from political as well as religious conflicts; the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70)|siege of Jerusalem]] in 70 AD led to the sacking of the temple and the dispersal of Jewish political power (see [[Jewish diaspora]]).

[[File:Stele Licinia Amias Terme 67646.jpg|thumb|upright|A 3rd-century funerary stele is among the [[early Christian inscriptions|earliest Christian inscriptions]], written in both Greek and Latin.]]
Christianity emerged in [[Judaea (Roman province)|Roman Judaea]] as a [[Jewish Christian|Jewish religious sect]] in the 1st century and gradually [[Spread of Christianity|spread]] out of [[Jerusalem in Christianity|Jerusalem]] throughout the Empire and beyond. Imperially authorized persecutions were limited and sporadic, with martyrdoms occurring most often under the authority of local officials.<ref>{{Harvp|Bowman|Garnsey|Cameron|2005|p=616}}; {{Cite book |last=Frend |first=W.H.C. |chapter=Persecutions: Genesis and Legacy |date=2006 |title=Cambridge History of Christianity: Origins to Constantine |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-81239-9 |volume=1 |page=510}}; {{Cite journal |last=Barnes |first=T. D. |date=2012 |title=Legislation against the Christians |journal=Journal of Roman Studies |volume=58 |issue=1–2 |doi=10.2307/299693 |pages=32–50 |jstor=299693 |s2cid=161858491}}; {{Cite journal |last=Sainte-Croix, G.E.M de |date=1963 |title=Why Were the Early Christians Persecuted? |journal=Past & Present |volume=26 |doi=10.1093/past/26.1.6 |pages=6–38}}; {{Cite book |last=Musurillo |first=Herbert |title=The Acts of the Christian Martyrs |date=1972 |publisher=Clarendon Press |pages=lviii–lxii}}; {{Cite journal |last=Sherwin-White |first=A. N. |author-link=A.N. Sherwin-White |date=1952 |title=The Early Persecutions and Roman Law Again |journal=The Journal of Theological Studies |volume=3 |issue=2 |doi=10.1093/jts/III.2.199 |pages=199–213}}</ref> [[Tacitus]] reports that after the [[Great Fire of Rome]] in AD&nbsp;64, the emperor attempted to deflect blame from himself onto the Christians.<ref name="annals-xv-44">{{Cite book |last=Tacitus |title=Annals |page=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 15#44|XV.44]]}}</ref> A major persecution occurred under the emperor [[Domitian]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eusebius of Caesarea |title=Church History |date=425 |author-link=Eusebius of Caesarea}}; {{Cite journal |last=Smallwood |first=E.M. |date=1956 |title='Domitian's attitude towards the Jews and Judaism |journal=Classical Philology |volume=51 |doi=10.1086/363978 |pages=1–13 |s2cid=161356789}}</ref> and a [[Persecution in Lyon|persecution in 177]] took place at Lugdunum, the Gallo-Roman religious capital. A letter from [[Pliny the Younger]], governor of [[Bithynia]], describes his persecution and executions of Christians.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pliny |title=Epistle to Trajan on the Christians |url=http://www.mesacc.edu/~tomshoemaker/handouts/pliny.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811045206/http://www.mesacc.edu/~tomshoemaker/handouts/pliny.html |archive-date=11 August 2011}}</ref> The [[Decian persecution]] of 246–251 seriously threatened the [[Christian Church]], but ultimately strengthened Christian defiance.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Frend |first=W. H. C. |date=1959 |title=The Failure of the Persecutions in the Roman Empire |journal=Past and Present |volume=16 |issue=16 |doi=10.1093/past/16.1.10 |pages=10–30}}</ref> [[Diocletian]] undertook the [[Diocletianic Persecution|most severe persecution of Christians]], from 303 to 311.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

From the 2nd century onward, the [[Church Fathers]] condemned the diverse religions practiced throughout the Empire as "pagan".{{Sfnp|Bowersock|Brown|Grabar|1999|p=625}} In the early 4th century, [[Constantine I]] became the first emperor to [[convert to Christianity]]. He supported the Church financially and made laws that favored it, but the new religion was already successful, having moved from less than 50,000 to over a million adherents between 150 and 250.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Harnett |first=Benjamin |date=2017 |title=The Diffusion of the Codex |journal=Classical Antiquity |volume=36 |issue=2 |doi=10.1525/ca.2017.36.2.183 |pages=200, 217}}</ref> Constantine and his successors banned public sacrifice while tolerating other traditional practices. Constantine never engaged in a [[purge]],<ref name="Leithart">{{Cite book |last=Leithart |first=Peter J. |title=Defending Constantine The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom |date=2010 |publisher=InterVarsity Press |isbn=978-0-8308-2722-0 |page=304}}</ref> there were no "pagan martyrs" during his reign,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Peter |title=The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity, A.D. 200–1000 |date=2003 |publisher=Blackwell Publishers |isbn=978-0-631-22137-1 |edition=2nd |page=74 |author-link=Peter Brown (historian)}}; {{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=Glen L. |title=A Tall Order: Writing the Social History of the Ancient World – Essays in honor of William V. Harris |date=2005 |publisher=K.G. Saur |isbn=978-3-598-77828-5 |editor-last=Jean-Jacques Aubert |page=87,93 |chapter=Constantius II and the First Removal of the Altar of Victory |doi=10.1515/9783110931419 |editor-last2=Zsuzsanna Varhelyi}}</ref> and people who had not converted to Christianity remained in important positions at court.<ref name="Leithart"/>{{rp|302}} [[Julian the Apostate|Julian]] attempted to revive traditional public sacrifice and [[Hellenistic religion]], but met Christian resistance and lack of popular support.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hunt |first=David |title=Cambridge Ancient History |date=1998 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |editor-last=Cameron |editor-first=Averil |editor-link=Averil Cameron |volume=13 |page=68 |chapter=2, Julian |editor-last2=Garnsey |editor-first2=Peter |editor-link2=Peter Garnsey}}</ref>

[[File:Pantheon Rom 1 cropped.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]] in Rome, a [[Roman temple]] originally built under [[Augustus]], later converted into a [[Church architecture|Catholic church]] in the 7th century<ref>{{Cite book |last=MacDonald |first=William L. |url=https://archive.org/details/pantheondesignme0000macd |title=The Pantheon: Design, Meaning, and Progeny |date=1976 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=0-674-01019-1 |author-link=William L. MacDonald |url-access=registration}}</ref>]]
Christians of the 4th century believed the conversion of Constantine showed that Christianity had triumphed over paganism (in Heaven) and little further action besides such rhetoric was necessary.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brown |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Brown (historian) |date=1993 |title=The Problem of Christianization |url=http://publications.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/pubs/proc/files/82p089.pdf |journal=Proceedings of the British Academy |publisher=Oxford University Press |volume=84 |page=90 |access-date=3 June 2022 |archive-date=3 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303104208/http://publications.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/pubs/proc/files/82p089.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Thus, their focus was [[heresy in Christianity|heresy]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Salzman |first=Michele Renee |date=1993 |title=The Evidence for the Conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity in Book 16 of the 'Theodosian Code |journal=Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte |publisher=Franz Steiner Verlag |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=362–378}}</ref><ref name="Brown 1998">{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Peter |title=The Cambridge Ancient History |title-link=iarchive:iB Ca/013 |date=1998 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-30200-5 |editor-last=Cameron |editor-first=Averil |editor-link=Averil Cameron |volume=XIII: The Late Empire, A.D. 337–425 |pages=634, 640, 651 |chapter=Christianization and religious conflict |author-link=Peter Brown (historian) |editor-last2=Garnsey |editor-first2=Peter |editor-link2=Peter Garnsey}}</ref> According to [[Peter Brown (historian)|Peter Brown]], "In most areas, polytheists were not molested, and apart from a few ugly incidents of local violence, Jewish communities also enjoyed a century of stable, even privileged, existence".<ref name="Brown 1998"/>{{rp|641–643}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Demarsin |first=Koen |title=The Archaeology of Late Antique 'Paganism' |date=2011 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-19237-9 |editor-last=Lavan |editor-first=Luke |edition=volume 7; illustrated |page=liv–lv |chapter='Paganism' in Late Antiquity: Thematic studies Introduction |editor-last2=Mulryan |editor-first2=Michael}}</ref> There were anti-pagan laws, but they were not generally enforced; through the 6th century, centers of paganism existed in Athens, Gaza, Alexandria, and elsewhere.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Constantelos |first=Demetrios J. |date=1964 |title=Paganism and the State in the Age of Justinian |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/25017472 |journal=The Catholic Historical Review |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=372–380 |jstor=25017472 |access-date=3 June 2022 |archive-date=31 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531174806/https://www.jstor.org/stable/25017472 |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to recent Jewish scholarship, toleration of the Jews was maintained under Christian emperors.{{Sfnp|Brewer|2005|p=127}} This did not extend to [[Christian heresy|heretics]]:{{Sfnp|Brewer|2005|p=127}} Theodosius I made multiple laws and acted against alternate forms of Christianity,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sáry |first=Pál |title=Perpauca Terrena Blande Honori dedicata pocta Petrovi Blahovi K Nedožitým 80. Narodeninám |date=2019 |publisher=Trnavská univerzity |isbn=978-80-568-0313-4 |editor-last=Vojtech Vladár |page=73 |chapter=Remarks on the Edict of Thessalonica of 380}}; {{Cite journal |last=Brewer |first=Catherine |date=2005 |title=The Status of the Jews in Roman Legislation: The Reign of Justinian 527-565 Ce |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41443760 |journal=European Judaism: A Journal for the New Europe |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=127–139 |jstor=41443760 |access-date=3 June 2022 |archive-date=28 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528194215/https://www.jstor.org/stable/41443760 |url-status=live }}</ref> and heretics were persecuted and killed by both the government and the church throughout Late Antiquity. Non-Christians were not persecuted until the 6th century. Rome's original religious hierarchy and ritual influenced Christian forms,{{Sfnp|Rüpke|2007|pp=406–426}}<ref>On vocabulary, see {{Cite book |last=Schilling |first=Robert |chapter=The Decline and Survival of Roman Religion |date=1992 |title=Roman and European Mythologies |publisher=University of Chicago Press |page=110}}</ref> and many pre-Christian practices survived in Christian festivals and local traditions.