Roman Religion

I. Principal gods

A. 12 Olympians

Jupiter (= Jove): king of gods

Juno: Jupiter's wife, presides over affairs of matrons

Minerva: goddess of wisdom, crafts, war

Mars: god of war

Apollo: god of archery, poetry, sometimes sun

Diana: goddess of the hunt, childbirth, the moon

Mercury: messenger god, god of commerce, thieves

Ceres: goddess of grain

Bacchus (= Liber): god of wine

Vulcan: blacksmith god

Neptune: god of the sea

Venus: goddess of love

B. Others

Pluto (= Dis): god of the underworld

Vesta: goddess of the hearth, and of the sacred flame in the Roman forum

Quirinus: deified Romulus

Janus: god of beginnings and endings

Saturn: father of Jupiter: Italian god of agriculture

II. Major religious officials

A. pontifices: under leadership of pontifex maximus, these priests supervised all religious matters

B. flamines: priests dedicated to specific gods (e.g., flamines martiales serve Mars)

C. augurs: observe bird signs to see if conditions are propitious for such events as assemblies and the entering into office of new magistrates

D. fetiales: perform rituals surrounding the declaration of war

E. Vestal virgins: keep the sacred fire of Vesta

F. haruspices: examine the entrails of animals to see if conditions are propitious for such events as assemblies and the entering into office of new magistrates; these seers, unlike the augurs, do not have official religious authority

G. quindecimviri sacris faciundis: keep the Sibylline books, and consult them in response to prodigies