In the 1st century AD there was a myriad of religions within the Roman Empire. The colonies of Pompeii and Herculaneum were no exception. The evidence of religious belief and practice comes mainly from the remains of temples and altars within the two colonies. Pompeii, as a trading port, was in contact with countless other cultures, each trade ship and foreign vessel bringing with it a new religion, or a variation of an old one. Whilst the main Roman gods of the Capitoline Triad were worshipped within Pompeii and Herculaneumi, they appear to have been held in less favor by the Pompeian people.
Archaeological evidence indicates the Pompeian's appeared to prefer the goddess Venus Pompeiana, protector of Pompeii. Household gods, called Lares or Penates, were highly respected by the individual households of Pompeii and Herculaneum, with shrines and temples found throughout the two towns. However, practiced amongst these more traditional Roman religions were the foreign religions, or the Mystery Cults. The Cult of Isis was particularly favored in Pompeii and the worship of Dionysus was nearly as popular as Isis with the people of Pompeii, who for the most part enjoyed a very hedonistic lifestyle.No large temples have been found in the small proportion of Herculaneum excavated to date, but a shrine of the Augustales including a section devoted to Hercules, provides evidence of the Imperial Cult and two small temples provide evidence of the worship of Venus, Mercury, Minerva, Vulcan and Neptune. The Capitoline Triad originally consisted of the three main gods of Rome; Jupiter, Mars and Quirino.
However, Juno and Minerva eventually replaced Mars and Quirino. Every January 1st the citizens of Pompeii gathered at the northern end of the Forum to celebrate the Roman New Year.There they gathered at the temple of Jupiter (identified by the surviving inscriptions), a building set on a 10ft high foundationii, to watch the sacrifice of a bull to Jupiter Optimus Maximus, patron deity of Rome. However this fealty to the gods of State seems to have been a token gesture, rather than one of true religious piety. Whilst the citizens of Pompeii and Herculaneum paid their respects to the State gods evidence shows that they did not favor them as they did other gods.
After the earthquake of 62AD struck the region of Campania the townspeople of Pompeii did little to restore the Temple of Jupiter and left it in a derelict state.Instead of rebuilding the temple they moved their worship to another location, the sanctuary of Jupiter Meilichiosiii patron deity of Pompeian farmers. At the time of the eruption that occurred in 79AD, restorations were taking place on the Temple of Venusiv which was dedicated to Venus Pompeiana. The temple was located on the bluff overlooking Pompeii's Marina gate. If the restoration had been completed, this temple would have been the third temple dedicated to the goddess in the century and a half since Sulla, who conquered Pompeii in 89BC, pledged the city to her.
The first temple was a simple structure made of volcanic rock.As support grew for the goddess the townspeople demolished this temple in order to replace it with a larger marble temple. The same earthquake that ruined the temple of Jupiter in 62AD also caused major damage to this second temple. From these remains the third temple of Venus was being constructed, and would have been the most lavish temple thus far.
In the construction of the temple many houses in the area were demolished. It stood on a large open area, with the shrine facing to the sea. This site allowed a clear view of the shrine, and as it overlooked the harbor, anyone entering would have seen it as a major landmark.Venus was a highly popular goddess, and her image can be found extensively throughout Pompeii and Herculaneum.
The original cult statue of the temple is now lost, but it is suggested that it may bear resemblance to various painted depictions of Venusv, which "show the goddess heavily draped and wearing the mural crown of a city personification, with a ships rudder - a clear reference to Pompeii's connection with maritime trade - supporting her left hand and a figure of cupid standing on a pedestal next to her" (Ling pg. 108).Traditionally Venus shared her guardianship with Apollo and Hercules, who was supposed to have founded the colonies of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Apollo was considered to be the protector of Pompeii in the pre-Roman period. Apollo's temple was located next to the forum and was originally connected to this area by 11 large entrances many of which were closed after the construction of the Temple of Jupiter. The old temple no longer remains, the temple we see today was built upon the remains of this older building.
Archaeologists have concluded that the original temple was built before Roman settlement.This conclusion comes from the fact that the entire temple is out of line to the rest of the Forumvi. This is clearly shown in footnote vi. The other temples of the Forum face in towards the forum, whilst the temple of Apollo runs parallel.
The State deities were represented in shrines within households and businesses often in their Hellenistic (Greek) forms. Mercury for instance is shown in the form of the Greek god Hermes, fitted with staff and moneybag. These images conveyed the owners' personal desires of prosperity and the protection of the deities whose images they owned.Religion in Pompeii, as in all ancient societies, encompassed a multiplicity of deities with different characters and different spheres of competence, and people could cultivate now one, now another, depending upon their personal preferences or upon the needs of the moment" (Ling, pg.
107). In 1978 excavators found the remains of a young girl in the necropolis of Pompeii, hidden among the tombs. She had died suffocated by the gases that had spewed forth from the mouth of Vesuvius in 79AD clutching a small statue. The small statue she had with her was one of the Lares, or Penates.This was a domestic god, whom she may have worshipped in her house among family.
The shrines of domestic gods were found within the kitchen, and in public parts of the house. The size of the shrine depended on the wealth of the family or business. If one could not afford to maintain a larariumvii there were public shrines to the so-called 'little gods'. They were frequently represented in pairs of dancing figures in short tunics, offering wineviii. In many cases images of ancestors shared space with the Lares and Penates.
After the eruption surviving citizens erected a temple, the Temple of the Lares on the site of the Forum.It was thought that widespread neglect of these gods had caused the eruption of Vesuvius. Of all the mystery cults, the Cult of Isis claimed the largest following. As the patron of sailors, it is easy to see why a town that relied primarily on sea trade found the goddess an attractive choice. Although the cult was originally the favorite of slaves and freedmen, as it grew in popularity it also grew in wealth.
The popularity of Isis was helped by her readiness to merge with other more traditionally established religions. Isis was a "giver of life, protector of the family, a goddess of healing and deliverance" (Ling, pg. 109).Adherents were not confined to one group. Slaves were allowed to join the cult and women were able to attain positions of power within the temple hierarchy.
One third of the names in the cult inscriptions were female. Worshippers of Isis met at the temple twice a day for special services: at dawn to celebrate the rising of the sun, symbolising the rebirth of Osiris, and in the early afternoon for the ceremony of the water, where Nile water was blessed as the source of all life. On certain days of the year extravagant celebrations were held in her honour. The most important of these celebrations was the navigium Isidis.This was a "feast to celebrate the opening of the navigation season after winter when Isis was venerated as the patron of sailors and seafarers" (Pedrazzi 172). Endnote ix is a fresco from Herculaneumix, which shows a ceremony in progress.
The high priest stands at the entrance to the templex and looks down on the ceremony beneath him, which is supervised by priests with shaven heads. One priest tends the sacred fire and another behind him leads the followers (gathered in two ranks) in worship. In the foreground of the painting three Ibis can be seen, sacred to Isis, and to the right is a flautist.Like the other Temples of Pompeii, the Temple of Isis was destroyed in the earthquake of 62AD. It was restored quickly, and in fact was the only temple to be fully restored.
An inscription identifies the funding to have been donated by the family of a freedman in the name of their six-year-old son, N. Popidius Celsinusxi. This type of grand gesture, along with the fact that the Temple of Isis was fully restored whilst all the other temples of the state religions were not, show the importance of the Cult of Isis in the region of Campania. The only mystery cult to rival that of Isis was the Cult of Dionysus the god of wine.
Dionysus' devotees reveled in the consumption of wine and in the midst of drunken celebrations believed themselves to have been released from mortality. Celebrations typically involved a sacrifice, followed by extended periods of feasting and frenzied dancing. All this was preformed whilst followers drank sacramental wine. These orgiastic celebrations were frowned upon in Rome, but in Pompeii they were largely enjoyed. Almost 200 years earlier the Roman government tried to eradicate the Dionysian cult, executing all seven thousand of the exclusively female adherents.Years later men were encouraged to join the cult as popularity for the cult had declined.
Dionysian themes were popular throughout Pompeii and Herculaneum, with all manner of decorations adopting this hedonistic themexii. Such an abundance of said decorations prove that the cult had not been eradicated, but merely revised by its followers to appear less conspiratorial or subversive to the state. The Augustales were a college of priests of the deified Emperor Augustus. The priests maintained the Imperial cult in individual Roman towns.In Herculaneum they met in a shrine space, a large room with an enclosed niche, which probably held a statue of Augustus. The cult was founded by the Emperor Augustus as a way of allowing freedmen a role in civic life.
Freedmen were barred from holding political posts or places in traditional Roman priesthoods. The imperial cult gave them a chance to contribute to the society that had freed them, to advance themselves and demonstrate their loyalty to the emperor. The shrine in Herculaneum was identified by an inscription that declared it sacred to Augustusxiii.According the inscription, the dedication of the temple was marked with a banquet not only for the Augustales but also members of the local senate. This inclusion of traditional local dignitaries shows how wealthy freedmen could use the cult to make connections with the local ruling classes despite being barred from their institutions. The Sacred area in Herculaneum occupied the other end of the seacoast terrace to the Suburban baths.
This area contained two sacellixiv and was built over boathouses lining the ancient shore. The first sacellum was dedicated to Venus. In the second sacellum there are four relief images.These images are not the originals but rather modern copiesxv put in place to ensure the safety of the originals. These depicted Minerva, Vulcan, Mercury and Neptune.
With such a diverse selection of religious influences ranging from all across the Roman Empire, it is no wonder that the people of Campania were turning increasingly to more exotic religions. Whilst the traditional pantheon of Roman gods, like the Capitoline Triad, Venus, Apollo, and the household gods, still held their place within the colonies of Pompeii and Herculaneum, newer and more appealing religions were quickly taking root within the area.The cult of Isis was at the peak of its popularity in 79AD, and the cult of Dionysus was rapidly gathering more followers. Whilst religious information on Herculaneum is scant at this current time, future archaeological excavations will most likely uncover this side of the ancient city and may reveal a religious community as diverse and enriched as that found in Pompeii at the time of its destruction.
