(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Gods of Pompeii [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-08-15 Welcome to the Street Prophets Coffee Hour cleverly hidden at the intersection of religion, art, science, food, and politics. This is an open thread where we can share our thoughts and comments about the day. Let’s talk about the gods in the Roman city of Pompeii. Pompeii began as a settlement of small fishing and agricultural communities. In 80 BCE, it was incorporated into the Roman Empire when the Roman dictator Sulla settled about 5,000 Roman veterans and their families in the city. Local inhabitants were displaced, and the city was renamed Colonia Cornelia Veneria Pompeianorum, indicating its status as a colony. While Pompeii was not a particularly important town within the Roman empire, it had a population of 10-12,000 and many wealthy Romans built houses there. With easy access to the Mediterranean and proximity to Rome, Pompeii was a hub for trade throughout the empire. The Oregon Museum of Science and Technology (OMSI) in Portland had a special exhibit on Pompeii which included more than 200 items on loan from the Naples National Archaeological Museum. Among the items displayed are images of the Roman gods and goddesses. In his entry on Rome in The Grammar of the Ancient World, Peter Chrisp reports: “The Romans believed that the more gods their Empire had to protect it, the stronger it would be.” The oldest building in Pompeii is the Temple of Apollo which dates to the sixth century BCE. There is also a later Temple of Venus, which was probably built by the Roman colonists settled in the city by Sulla. One of the grandest temples in the city is the Temple of Jupiter, considered by some to be the king of the gods. According to the Museum display: “Like all Romans, Pompeians worshipped many gods and goddesses. Public temples to the patron gods of the city, Apollo, Venus, and Jupiter, who was king of the Roman gods, stood in and around the Forum. Many street intersections had neighborhood shrines. At home, people worshipped the spirits of their dead ancestors and their own household gods (Lares) at a shrine called the Lararium.” While the Roman temples in Pompeii provide evidence of public religion at this time, the temples were not like modern religious structures in which groups of people come together to perform ceremonies. Rather, temples were the homes of the gods. Mary Beard writes: “Temples were not places where a congregation of worshippers gathered or where religious rituals were carried out. The essential feature of any Greek or Roman temple was to house a statue of a god or goddess.” Roman religion was based on reciprocity: the people would take care of the gods, and the gods, thus, would take of the people and protect them from catastrophes. Mary Beard writes: “To put it at its simplest, the official line was that the gods protected and supported Rome or, on a smaller scale, Pompeii, so long as they received due worship. If they were neglected, disaster would surely be the result.” With regard to the guardian spirits of the household, Lares and Penates, Nigel Rodgers, in his book Roman Empire, writes: “Each Roman household traditionally had one lar (the word was originally Etruscan, meaning prince) and two penates, whose names derived from penus, larder.” Nigel Rodgers also writes: “The lar was invoked on all important occasions such as marriages and funerals.” Nigel Rodgers writes: “The penates oversaw the family supply of food and drink and their altar was the hearth, which they shared with Vesta.” Vesta was the god of the hearth and sown fields. A lararium is shown above. Shown above are statuettes depicting Minerva, the goddess of a thousand words. Minerva was originally the Etruscan goddess Menrfa or Menarva. She later became the patron goddess of doctors, musicians, and craftsmen. Shown above is an altar of white marble from the House of the Harpist. This dates to 62-79 CE. According to the Museum display: “Small altars were commonplace in larariums. Members of the household would have performed religious rituals at this altar and worshipped the Lares and other family deities.” Shown above is Genius who was a kind of guardian angel. Shown above is a bronze statuette of Mercury, the patron god of commerce, communication, and luck. Apollo Citharist The bronze statue of Apollo shown below was created in the second half of the first century BCE and is a replica of a Greek sculpture. Apollo was a Greek god imported to Rome in the fifth century BCE to ward of plague. This statue was in the House of the Citharist. According to the Museum display: “The cult of Apollo was one of the oldest in Pompeii and probably influenced the choice of subject matter. At life-size, the inlayed bone eyes would have met the gaze of each passerby reinforcing the presence of the powerful god.” Open Thread This is an open thread—all topics are welcome. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/8/15/2256172/-The-Gods-of-Pompeii?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/