The religious vocabulary of ancient Rome was highly specialized, and often influenced later religious vocabulary in Europe, particularly that of the Western Church. This glossary provides explanations of concepts as they were expressed in Latin pertaining to religious practices and beliefs, with links to articles on major topics such as priesthoods, forms of divination, and rituals.
For theonyms, or the names and epithets of gods, see List of Roman deities. For public religious holidays, see Roman festivals. Individual temples and other landmarks of religious topography in ancient Rome are not included in this list; see Roman temple.
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Famous quotes containing the words ancient, roman and/or religion:
“For who shall defile the temples of the ancient gods, a cruel and violent death shall be his fate, and never shall his soul find rest unto eternity. Such is the curse of Amon-Ra, king of all the gods.”
—Griffin Jay, Maxwell Shane (1905–1983)
“The Roman Road runs straight and bare
As the pale parting-line in hair
Across the heath.”
—Thomas Hardy (1840–1928)
“Christianity as an organized religion has not always had a harmonious relationship with the family. Unlike Judaism, it kept almost no rituals that took place in private homes. The esteem that monasticism and priestly celibacy enjoyed implied a denigration of marriage and parenthood.”
—Beatrice Gottlieb, U.S. historian. The Family in the Western World from the Black Death to the Industrial Age, ch. 12, Oxford University Press (1993)