sansahansan Wrote:
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> A question here, based on the fact that I'm not as
> educated as I would like to be on the subject
> material, nor remotely as close as some who have
> made it a life's work, or at least a major part of
> a degree...
>
> How much evidence is there that the Romans, as a
> majority of their population, paid more than lip
> service to their religion? IE, comparatively
> viewing America today, there is an extraordinary
> number of non-devout religiously affiliated
> individuals. Was it so in Rome? Where you pay
> lip service, such as praising the fates when a
> merchant deal went well, and not really believe it
> yourself? Donating a full 15% of your income to a
> shrine for thanks on a successful venture just as
> a form of advertising (getting your name bandied
> about) without actually fully believing the
> deity/shrine offering had anything to do with it?
> Err, longwinded I guess, but essentially outwardly
> portraying religious devotion in accordance with
> social expectations without actually being a true
> believer. Was this Rome and their overcharged
> polytheism that they kept 'adding' to over a
> couple thousand year period (pre-Etruscan up
> through Byzantium)?
I'd say that during the Republican years ie the first 500 years of Rome..their beliefs were inseparable from their daily lives.
The onset of Empire and the influx of other beliefs slowly compromised them
Once Religion was coopted by the Emperors they were reduced to merely being a part of the overall bureaucracy
hence our Christian Festivals being aligned with Republican Rituals
Warwick
" I have always found that the main obstacle to free
association on these boards is the broad
misconception that what we do not know is more
significant than what we do know."
Warwick L Nixon, March 8, 2019