Transcript Roman Religion - Hale

Roman Religion
CHW3M
What happens when you die?
The soul is immortal
When you die, your soul is escorted
to the river Styx by Mercury
Romans buried their dead with a coin
in their mouths
You use this coin to pay Charon the
ferryman for passage over the river
Styx
What happens when you die?
On the other side of the Styx, you
pass Cerberus, the three-headed
watchdog
Cerberus will pay you no mind going in,
but if a soul tries to leave the underworld
without permission, he’ll be mean as hell
What happens when you die?
You then go before the three judges,
Minos, Rhadamanthos and Aeacus
If you’re a warrior or hero, they’ll send you
to the Elysian Fields (paradise)
If you’re an average good citizen, you’ll go
to the Plain of Asphodel (similar to normal
life)
If you’ve been bad, they’ll send you to
Tartarus (the Furies will punish you until
your debt to society/the gods is paid)
No “eternal damnation”
What happens when you die?
Sometimes – for example if you’ve
been unjustly murdered - you could
be granted passage back out of the
underworld to be reborn again
You’ll have to drink from the river of
forgetfulness so you won’t remember
anything
Similarities/Differences?
Egyptian afterlife?
Mesopotamian afterlife?
Activity
Draw a picture showing what the Romans
believe happens when you die
You may want to include any of the
following
Mercury
The River Styx
Charon
Cerberus
The three judges
The Furies
Elysian Fields, Plain of Asphodel, Tartarus
The Roman Pantheon
As discussed yesterday, based on the
Greek pantheon
But also on Etruscan and Latin gods
In fact, the Romans incorporated the
gods of everyone they conquered,
which made things very complicated
by the late Empire, which made the
switch to Christianity kind of a relief
Other minor deities
Spirits of trees, water, fire, stones
Spirits to watch over everyday events
Spirits of ancestors
Spirits of parts of the house
Practices
Lots of rituals
Sacrifices
Divinations
Monthly festivals
Ex: Festival of Saturnalia
Held in December in honour of Saturn
Involved exchanging gifts
Sound familiar?
The Priesthood
Elected officials
High priest is Pontifex Maximus
Sound familiar?
Christianity
Based on Judaism, emerged around
30 CE
Fairly unique in that it was monotheistic
Zoroastrianism (founded in Persia
around 600 BCE) also monotheistic and
highly influential on Judaism
Christianity
Jesus was born and preached in
Palestine (a Roman province)
Ran afoul of the Jewish and Roman
authorities
Was crucified around 33-36 CE
Christianity
Jesus’s followers continued to follow
his teachings and spread Christianity
2 of his original apostles, Paul and Peter,
were executed in Rome by Nero
Initially, however, Christianity is not
seen as a threat, just a minor,
underground religion
A growing threat?
Highly organized church system with
well documented sacred writings
Christianity’s promises of equality,
forgiveness, eternal happiness look
pretty attractive compared to Roman
religion
Persecution
Christians are Roman citizens, bound
to Roman law, yet refuse to worship
the Emperor
It became popular to blame Christians
for natural disasters
Christian rituals offensive (endorsing
cannibalism?)
The tables turn
Despite widespread persecution and
executions, Christianity grows
By 300 CE about 10% of the Roman
empire is Christian
Soon after, Constantine converts to
Christianity
In 380 CE Theodosius makes
Christianity the official religion of the
Empire
A Roman Perspective
See “Through Their Eyes” on page
182
Role Play
Write a letter as either…
A Roman who has recently converted to
Christianity, outlining the reasons for
your conversion
A Roman who is concerned about the
spread of Christianity, outlining what you
are worried about and what the
authorities are doing about it