The priesthoods of public religion were held by members of the elite classes. There was no principle analogous to separation of church and state in ancient Rome. During the Roman Republic(509–27 BC), the same men who

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The Roman mythological tradition is particularly rich in historical myths, or legends, concerning the foundation and rise of the city. These narratives focus on human actors, with only

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Rome offers no native creation myth, and little mythographyto explain the character of its deities, their mutual relationships or their interactions with the human world, but Roman theology acknowledged that di immortales (immortal gods) ruled all realms of the heavens and

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Roman calendars show roughly forty annual religious festivals. Some lasted several days, others a single day or less: sacred days (dies

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Public religious ceremonies of the official Roman religion took place outdoors, and not within the temple building. Some ceremonies were processions that started at, visited, or ended with a temple or shrine, where a ritual object might be stored and brought out for

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Prayers, vows, and oaths
All sacrifices and offerings required an accompanying prayer to be effective. Pliny the Elderdeclared that "a sacrifice without prayer is thought to be useless and not a proper consultation of the gods." Prayer by itself, however, had

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Throughout the life of Rome, a numerous array of "mystery cults" appeared. These cults were generally founded upon legends or sacred stories, such as the tale of Orpheus. Several had a basis in other cultures, such as the Cult of Isis, an Egyptian goddess. The

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