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All these deities were completely faceless. The Roman did not dare to claim with full confidence that he knew the real name of a god or that he could distinguish between a god or a goddess. In his prayers he, too, kept the same caution and said: "Jupiter is the Greatest, or if you want to be called by any other name". And making a sacrifice, he said: "Whether you are God or goddess, husband or woman". On Palatine (one of the seven hills on which Ancient Rome was located) there is still an altar on which there is no name but only an evasive formula: "to God or goddess, husband or woman," and it was up to the gods themselves to decide to whom the sacrifices made on this altar belong.
The Roman gods did not come down to earth or show themselves to men as willingly as the Greek gods did. They kept away from man, and even if they wanted to warn him about something, they never appeared directly: in the depths of forests, in the darkness of temples, or in the silence of fields, sudden mysterious cries were heard, by which the god gave a warning signal. The intimacy between god and man never came to pass.
In ancient Rome, all knowledge of the gods was basically about how to honor them, and at what moment to ask for their help. The system of sacrifices and rituals, which was developed in detail and precisely, was the whole religious life of the Romans. They imagined gods like praetors (Praetor is one of the highest officials in ancient Rome. The praetors were in charge of court cases) and were convinced that, like the judge, they lost the case to someone who did not understand the official formalities. Therefore, there were books in which everything was foreseen and where one could find prayers for all occasions. The rules had to be precisely observed, and any violation would negate the results of the divine service.
have a peek at these guys check my blog news More about the author click site navigate to this website my review here get redirected here useful reference this page The Romans were always afraid that they had not performed the rites properly. It was enough to have the slightest omission in prayer, some unspecified movement, a sudden interruption in the religious dance, and to spoil the musical instrument during the sacrifice, so that the same rite could be repeated again. There were times when thirty times everyone started over until the sacrifice was performed flawlessly. When performing a prayer containing a request, the priest had to make sure not to omit any expression or pronounce it in an inappropriate place. Therefore, someone reads, and the priest repeats it word for word, the reader was given an assistant who made sure that everything was read correctly. A special servant of the priests made sure that those present kept silent, and at the same time the trumpet blower blew as hard as he could so that nothing could be heard but the words of the spoken prayer.
Equally careful and careful were all sorts of fortune-telling, which were of great importance to the Romans in public and private life. Before each important work, they first learned the will of the gods, manifested in various signs, which were observed and explained by the priests, called augustas. Thunder and lightning, sudden sneezing, the fall of an object in a sacred place, an attack of epilepsy in a public square - all such phenomena, even the most insignificant, but occurred at an unusual or important moment, acquired the meaning of divine omen. The most favorite was divination by the flight of birds. When the senate or consuls had to make a decision, declare war or peace, or promulgate new laws, they first of all turned to August with the question of whether the right time was chosen. The augustus offered sacrifice and prayer, and at midnight he went to the Capitol, the most sacred hill in Rome, and looked to the sky, facing south. At dawn, the birds flew by, and according to the way they flew, what they were, and how they behaved, Augustus foretold whether the plan would succeed or fail. So fastidious chickens ruled a mighty republic, and the warlords, in the face of the enemy, had to obey their whims.
The Roman gods did not come down to earth or show themselves to men as willingly as the Greek gods did. They kept away from man, and even if they wanted to warn him about something, they never appeared directly: in the depths of forests, in the darkness of temples, or in the silence of fields, sudden mysterious cries were heard, by which the god gave a warning signal. The intimacy between god and man never came to pass.
In ancient Rome, all knowledge of the gods was basically about how to honor them, and at what moment to ask for their help. The system of sacrifices and rituals, which was developed in detail and precisely, was the whole religious life of the Romans. They imagined gods like praetors (Praetor is one of the highest officials in ancient Rome. The praetors were in charge of court cases) and were convinced that, like the judge, they lost the case to someone who did not understand the official formalities. Therefore, there were books in which everything was foreseen and where one could find prayers for all occasions. The rules had to be precisely observed, and any violation would negate the results of the divine service.
have a peek at these guys check my blog news More about the author click site navigate to this website my review here get redirected here useful reference this page The Romans were always afraid that they had not performed the rites properly. It was enough to have the slightest omission in prayer, some unspecified movement, a sudden interruption in the religious dance, and to spoil the musical instrument during the sacrifice, so that the same rite could be repeated again. There were times when thirty times everyone started over until the sacrifice was performed flawlessly. When performing a prayer containing a request, the priest had to make sure not to omit any expression or pronounce it in an inappropriate place. Therefore, someone reads, and the priest repeats it word for word, the reader was given an assistant who made sure that everything was read correctly. A special servant of the priests made sure that those present kept silent, and at the same time the trumpet blower blew as hard as he could so that nothing could be heard but the words of the spoken prayer.
Equally careful and careful were all sorts of fortune-telling, which were of great importance to the Romans in public and private life. Before each important work, they first learned the will of the gods, manifested in various signs, which were observed and explained by the priests, called augustas. Thunder and lightning, sudden sneezing, the fall of an object in a sacred place, an attack of epilepsy in a public square - all such phenomena, even the most insignificant, but occurred at an unusual or important moment, acquired the meaning of divine omen. The most favorite was divination by the flight of birds. When the senate or consuls had to make a decision, declare war or peace, or promulgate new laws, they first of all turned to August with the question of whether the right time was chosen. The augustus offered sacrifice and prayer, and at midnight he went to the Capitol, the most sacred hill in Rome, and looked to the sky, facing south. At dawn, the birds flew by, and according to the way they flew, what they were, and how they behaved, Augustus foretold whether the plan would succeed or fail. So fastidious chickens ruled a mighty republic, and the warlords, in the face of the enemy, had to obey their whims.
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