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THE MAKING OF EUROPE / EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY

From Hutton Webster's, Early European History (1917); edited for this on-line publication, by ELLOPOS

IV. THE RISE OF ROME TO 264 B.C.

Rediscovering the Path to Europe
Em. Macron, Rediscovering the Path to Europe


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Page 12

JUPITER AND MARS

The Romans worshiped various gods connected with their lives as shepherds, farmers, and warriors. The chief divinity was Jupiter, who ruled the heavens and sent rain and sunshine to nourish the crops. The war god Mars reflected the military character of the Romans. His sacred animal was the fierce, cruel wolf, his symbols were spears and shields; his altar was the Campus Martius (Field of Mars) outside the city walls, where the army assembled in battle array. March, the first month of the old Roman year, was named in his honor. Some other gods were borrowed from the Greeks, together with many of the beautiful Greek myths.

DIVINATION

The Romans took many precautions, before beginning any enterprise, to find out what was the will of the gods and how their favor might first be gained. They did not have oracles, but they paid much attention to omens of all sorts. A sudden flash of lightning, an eclipse of the sun, a blazing comet, or an earthquake shock was an omen which awakened superstitious fear. It indicated the disapproval of the gods. From the Etruscans the Romans learned to divine the future by examining the entrails of animal victims. They also borrowed from their northern neighbors the practice of looking for signs in the number, flight, and action of birds. To consult such signs was called "taking the auspices." [14]

[14] Latin auspicium, from auspex, a bird seer.

 

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THE MAKING OF EUROPE / EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY: Table of Contents

url: www.ellopos.net/politics/european-history/default.asp


IN PRINT

Rediscovering the Path to Europe Henrik Ibsen, A Doll's House

Learned Freeware

Cf. The Ancient Greece * The Ancient Rome
Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) * Western Medieval Europe * Renaissance in Italy

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