Grace Cole - The Romans

Little is known about the earliest Romans, except that they were farmers of Indo-European origin, possibly with roots in central Asia, and they were a religious people. Romans, according to Roman historian Livy, believed their empire was ordained by the gods.

The religion upon which Rome was built influenced its government, in which priests held offices of high influence. Religion was entwined in the fabric of their daily lives, imprinted in the art and architecture that has survived the ages and is emulated still. Their belief system eventually evolved to embrace Christianity and form the basis of the Roman Catholic Church.

Before there was Rome, these farmers and shepherds worshipped spirits called numina that were responsible for the fate of various aspects of the natural world around them. Their gods were not made in their image, but were found in trees, rocks, fields, clouds, and animals. The numina had no sense of right or wrong, good or bad, and had no particular affection for people who worshipped them. Elaborate codes provided guidelines for paying tribute to the spirits and reaping the benefits of their favor.

Early on, these standards of spirituality were set by the oldest living male in each household - the pater familias whose power was absolute. As Roman society became more communal, this job became the responsibility of the communitys leader, or rex Latin for king then by committees of men who were acquainted with the wiles and whims of certain numina. Advisers to the rex on topics of religion were divided into two colleges the pontifices, who specialized in religious law, and the augures, charged with interpreting omens.

The Roman ancestors looked to Vesta , guardian of the hearth, to keep their fires lit. The Lares protected their homes and property lines. The Penates kept watch over food, drink, oil, and other supplies. Early Romans often made offerings of wheat or grain garlands, honey cakes or honeycombs, grapes, wine, and incense to household gods. These tributes could be paid at any time and often by accident any food that fell to the floor belonged to the gods. It was common during meals for bits of food to be tossed into the hearth for the Penates.

The Roman sky god, Jupiter came to the ancestors from an oak tree on Capitoline Hill. The spirit of Mars best known throughout Roman history as the god of war served in an an agricultural capacity during this time. He was the force behind a good or poor harvest. Festivals in his honor were held in March the month named for him and October, which marked the beginning and end of the season for growing and warfare.

The god Mars plays a role in the legend of Romes origin. The story begins with the Trojan hero Aeneas . In Virgils Aeneid, Aeneas is portrayed as one of the few Trojans not killed or enslaved during the fall of Troy. He was reputed to be the son of the goddess Venus and a Dardanian prince named Anchises . As Troy burned in the culmination of the Trojan War , Aeneas carried his elderly father to safety. He led a group called Aeneads, which, in addition to his father, included a trumpeter, a healer, a helmsman, and his son. They carried with them statues of Troys household gods, the Lares and Penates, as they sailed away to establish a new civilization. Legend holds that the gods directed Aeneas and his people west, to a promised land that would become Rome.

The Aeneid portrays the Aeneads voyage as turbulent, punctuated by brief but fierce storms placed in their path by the goddess Juno . After six years of wandering, the expedition made landfall at Carthage, where Aeneas fell under the thrall of a Carthagian queen named Dido . She proposed they marry and reign jointly over their united people. But, according to Virgils account, the gods soon reminded Aeneas of his mission and destination, and within the year, he and his followers slipped off to Italy, incurring Didos wrath.

In Italy, Aeneas married Lavinia , daughter of Latin king Latiunus, and an alliance was formed between the Latins and the Aeneads. They settled near the coast, where Aeneas ruled a city he named Lavinium, after his wife. Aeneas was succeeded by his son Ascanius , who established a new city, Alba Longa, about twelve miles from the site that would later become Rome. It took its name from the nearby Alban Hills.

Four centuries and more than a dozen reigns later, King Numitor , a descendant of Aeneas, was overthrown by his brother, Amulius . To ensure Numitor had no heirs, Amulius killed Numitors son and forced his daughter, Rhea Silvia , to swear chastity as a Vestal Virgin. The legend states she became pregnant with twin sons, Romulus and Remus , and claimed the god Mars as the father. After their birth, the king imprisoned his niece and ordered a servant to kill her sons. But the servant showed mercy, and instead of slaying the children, he set them adrift on the river Tiber. When they washed ashore, a she-wolf, or lupa, suckled them until a shepherd named Faustulus found and raised them with his wife Acca Larentia . The imprisoned princess was, according to legend, rescued by the god of the Tiber, Tiberinus , and became his wife.