Roman Pagan Life and Worship

Pagan worship
- Veneration of maiores
- Funeral venerations & oaths
- Not a personal faith but obligations so those who come after will carry on and venerate you
- Worship in the Cities
  - Senatorial Class
  - Equestrian or Decurion
  - Temple is not a church, but homes of the gods
  - Offer sacrifices
  - Processions and festivals
  - Oaths and vows not heartfelt (superstitious)
Cult of the Emperor
- Emperor not a god
- Emperor joins the company of the gods
- Veneration from Asia Minor
- Elites venerate the emperor will have favor
- Rome and other gods
  - Syncretism - borrowing gods from other cultures
  - Henotheism - belief that a god is known by other names in other cultures
    - Not cynical
    - Not accomodation
    - Subjugation
- Roman Army and the gods
  - The genius of the Emperor
Jews have an ancient faith
- Allowed to worship God their own way
Christian was a new faith
- Suspicious
- Barred from worship
- Dangerous (die for faith is strange)
- Christians and Pagans are incompatible