Religion In Pompeii And Herculaneum: Religion

Religion in Pompeii and Herculaneum was polytheistic, meaning that the civilisation believed and worshipped spirits of the Gods. Religion was an active part of everyday life of the citizens of Pompeii and Herculaneum and the worship of offerings was performed in order to keep the Gods satisfied, to ensure the prosperity and safety of all aspects of ones life, and ones family. However, there was a vast selection of different religions available to the people of Pompeii and Herculaneum, ranging from belief in Greek influenced deities, foreign cults like that of the Egyptian god Isis, to cults that believed the Roman Emperor himself was a divine being. All of these variations of religion seemed to be openly accepted and practiced in Pompeii
Instead, they worshipped many gods and adopted gods from every part of their conquered world. Heavily influenced by Greek tradition, the Romans had a Pantheon consisting of Jupiter, Juno, Minerva, Vesta, Ceres, Diana, Venus, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Vulcan and Apollo (these were replicants of the Greek Gods). This religion is thought to be the most commonly practiced throughout Pompeii and Herculaneum and this is evident by extravagant Temple of the Capitoline Triad or Temple of Jupiter in Pompeii (Source C). It was situated on the northern side of the Forum and was dedicated to the triad of the highest divinities of ancient times. The Gods included in the triad were, Jupiter, Juno and Minerva and are identified with Zeus, Hera and Athena of the Greek culture. They where projected as the protector of the state, the protector of women and the patroness of craftsmen. As the Roman society strongly believed that the Gods controlled everything, the population would have been drawn to this temple, as they believed their well-being and business would be protected and maintained. Through Roman (and initially Greek) influences, Religion played a major part in the lives of the people of Pompeii and Herculaneum as the population turned to them for guidance, protection and
Religion was divided into private and public worship, each with their own different set of norms. Public worship in Pompeii and Herculaneum was daily observation of ritual rather than a relationship with a deity. Evidence of public worship is offered through the temples though out the forum, frescos, paintings and statues. While private worship brought some intimacy, citizens prayed and gave offerings to Gods for the protection and prosperity of the people in their homes and evidence to support this is provided through larariums. The most important feature of Pompeii and Herculaneum was the variety of religions to choice from, whether it is traditional, foreign or imperial with out social discrepancies and discrimination. This is also evident by the number of different religious temples in the Forum in Pompeii and statues excavated in Herculaneum. This influenced people in Pompeii and Herculaneum as it aloud them to express individualism and worship Gods with traits and ideals that they thought would bring them protect and/or prosperity. Through the given archaeological evidence, it can be suggested that religion held great significance in the lives of the inhabitancies of Religion in Pompeii and Herculaneum.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
"Religion in Pompeii and Herculaneum." StudyMode. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. .

"Pompeii: Its Discovery and Preservation." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 25 Mar.