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The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1998
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Epic Interactive Encyclopedia, The - 1998 Edition (1998)(Epic Marketing).iso
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Roman_religion
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1992-09-02
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Religious system that retained early elements
of animism (with reverence for stones and
trees) and totemism (see Romulus and Remus),
and had a strong domestic base in the lares
and penates, the cult of Janus and Vesta. It
also had a main pantheon of gods derivative
from the Greek one, which included Jupiter
and Juno, Mars and Venus, Minerva, Diana,
Ceres, and many lesser deities. The
deification of dead emperors served a
political purpose and also retained the idea
of family - that is, that those who had
served the national family in life continued
to care, as did one's ancestors, after their
death. By the time of the empire, the
educated classes tended towards Stoicism or
Scepticism, but the following of mystery
cults, especially within the army (see Isis
and Mithraism), proved a strong rival to
early Christianity.