Religions of the Roman Republic

[Gaius Valerius Scipio]

Salvete, Cultores!

I have been wondering for awhile now what is the religious make up of our Republic, I know that there are many here who believe in the Roman-Greco Gods but i think it would be interesting to see how many different faiths there are within the Republic and the beliefs that everyone has.

I know last time I checked we have about 475 citizens within the Republic, although not all of them are active nor will everyone reply to this message, it would still be insightful for all of us to see. For those who do reply, what the beliefs of their fellow Republicans are. I hope I can get a large response and in this way make a census for the Republic.

May the Gods watch over our growing Republic eternally.
G Valerius Scipio.

[Gaius Florius Lupus]

Salvete!
I belong to the Religio Romana, but arm not very religious.
Valete!

[Publius Iunius Brutus]

Brutus sal.

I am a cultor, have been so for the last 17 years.

I tend to be as traditional as possible with the core elements of the Religio Romana while leaving room for careful modern updating. The updating I do is mindful of the historical evidence and done for practicality, and for increasing relevance to the needs of the present day. I like to think of my updating as being true to the intent of the tradition and recognizable to the ancients.

Personally, I am not interested in anything resembling "new age" practices. For me, one of the rewards I find in practicing the CDR is being ever mindful of the past and updating with great awareness and scholarship the old traditions when required.

[Spurius Iuventius Catulus]

I am primarily a practitioner of the Religio, though I do also honor some "foreign" deities as well (mainly Gaulish/Celtic). I've been a Pagan/polytheist in various capacities for twenty-five years. I also do some practices which are modern, but those are personal and thus irrelevant to my public practice.

[Publius Sallustius Quadratus]

My religion is Cultus Deorum Romanorum and my Gods are the Gods of Rome but also of Greece and the Mediterranean. I believe that there are Gods everywhere and in every nation and that they have power in those places and with the people who follow them.

Iuppiter reigns in the heavens above all of us and we may find Minerva and Iuno with him anywhere as we may find Apollo, Mars and Venus everywhere but we may also find Isis, Mithras, Bacchus and Sol Invictus, though they were originally Eastern Gods before they were adopted in Rome.

Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva have power in India as does Quetzalcoatl in Mexico.

The cult of Jesus I reject however. Jesus could be the son of a God and a heroic demi-God like Heracles or Perseus but the Christian Trinity I do not accept. YHWH may have power for the Jews as their but the isistance that YHWH is the only God is unacceptable to me. Likewise for Allah who may be a God for the Arabs but certainly not the only God in the multiverse.

One of the things I find wonderful about Roman polytheism is the tradition of recognition, acceptance and absorption of foreign Gods. This kind of polytheism is inclusive and open to expansion. It is a cosmopolitan world view that can truly unify humanity as opposed to some of the rigid monotheistic cults that entirely reject other people's Gods.

I don't know if I would say that I am very "religious" according to some people's standards however. For me, religion is not necessarily as much about belief and practice as it is about and expression of cultural identity. My culture is Classical Greek and Roman culture. I honor and revere the Gods as they are due. I enjoy reading Epicurus, who was possibly an atheist, and Socrates who was executed for heresy.

I honestly don't care for dogma or theocracy. I am comfortable with CDR as a state religion because it is my religion and because it stands in my opinion as one of the pillars of Classical culture.

I don't find CDR to be overly concerned with moral behavioral social engineering as Christianity is or has become (whatever it once was we may never know...) and for that reason also I find it easy to accept.

I am less comfortable with the Imperial Cult however, and I view the apotheosis of emperors to be far too politically contrived and worldly to be worthy of traditional religion.

My religion however is not so strictly Roman as perhaps some others would think of their own religion. I am a cosmopolitan Roman. My Rome is not the Rome of elitist Patrician Republicans who were aghast at the introduction of foreign cults in Rome. My Rome is the Rome of the Plebs who came to Rome from all across the Empire and brought with them the Gods of their homelands to share in the great pantheon of the Roman cosmopolitan tradition.

[Gaius Florius Lupus]

Salve Sallusti Quadrate,
This is exactly how I see things too. It could not be better said.
Optime vale!

[Gaius Valerius Scipio]

[Gaius Curtius Philo]

I personally am a follower of the Roman Gods, a Corax in the Mysteries of Mithras and a believer in the divinity of the Divi. I venerate Marcus Aurelius, although I still need to seperate an altar for Him. I might also seek to venerate Aurelian one day, but I need to learn more about Him first.

[Tiberius Publicius Gracchus]

I was born and raised Catholic, and for the last several years I was involved in New Age paganism. Neopaganism is a pretty tight knit community and it was nice getting to know all those people but as time went on I started to realize that I simply do not believe in the religion. I am skeptical about things such as tarot, runes, and astrology. I am skeptical about magick. I understand that the Romans took auspices and had their own form of divination, but frankly I am skeptical of that as well. I have invoked the Muses for help with some writing assignments and they seem to have responded. I do believe in Gods and Spirits, but I am skeptical if us mortals can determine who or what they are. However, since the Romans had more experience with them than modern people, I think it is wise to defer to their forms of worship. So I have built a lararium and a shrine to the Muses, and occasionally make offerings, and try to live a virtuous life.

[Tiberius Publicius Gracchus]