WEBVTT

00:00.000 --> 00:01.360
Ancient Rome and Religion

00:01.360 --> 00:08.960
Religion played a very important role in the
daily life of ancient Rome and the Romans

00:12.300 --> 00:16.740
Roman religion was centered around gods and
explanations for events usually involved the

00:16.740 --> 00:22.440
gods in some way or another. The Romans
believed that gods controlled their lives and

00:22.840 --> 00:34.800
as a result, spent a great deal of their time worshiping them. The most important god
was Jupiter. He was the king of gods who ruled with his wife Juno, the goddess of the sky

00:38.080 --> 00:53.500
Other gods were. After the reign of the emperor Augustus, 27 BC to AB 14, the
emperor was also considered to be a god and he was worshipped on special occasions

00:53.500 --> 00:59.240
Each god had a special festival day
which was usually a public holiday

00:59.240 --> 01:05.379
This holiday gave people the opportunity to visit
the temple for whichever god was being celebrated

01:05.379 --> 01:09.620
At this temple, priests would sacrifice
animals and offer them to the god

01:09.620 --> 01:22.299
Temples to worship the gods were built throughout the Roman Empire Temples usually always
follow the same building pattern The roof was triangular shaped and supported by great pillars

01:22.299 --> 01:28.999
Steps led up to the main doorway that
was usually built behind the pillars

01:28.999 --> 01:33.779
The inside of the temple would have been very well decorated
and there would have been a statue of the god in it

01:33.779 --> 01:38.279
There would also have been an altar where a priest
would have served the god and made sacrifices

01:38.279 --> 01:47.959
People called augurs could also be found in the temples. These
people used the entrails of the dead animals to predict the future

01:47.959 --> 01:53.699
The Romans took these predictions very
seriously and few ignored the advice of an augur

01:53.699 --> 02:00.819
Each family home would also have a small altar and shrine. The Romans
had personal household gods or spirits called lares which were worshipped

02:00.819 --> 02:09.079
every day at home. The shrine contained statues of the
Leres and the head of the household led family prayers

02:09.079 --> 02:16.559
around the shrine each day. The service was considered
so important that family slaves were also invited

02:16.559 --> 02:25.879
It is believed that most Romans were more keen to
please their Leres than the public gods such as Jupiter