Religion and the Roman Empire

The main purpose of the ritual was to communicate with the numina and to receive their approval, which they believed was necessary to be successful (“Religion, Roman” 1). The numina were believed to ha... ... middle of paper ... ... Britain, Western Asia, Northern Africa, and the Mediterranean Islands in the eighth century B.C. Though it declined in 190 A.D., Roman religion and athletics are still admired today. Works Cited "Athletic Games." The Greenhaven Encyclopedia of Ancient Rome.

This was of great importance to the Roman people, and helped the empire to expand through its strong religious centre. "The presence of the gods gives the past a certain dignity, and if any nation deserves to be allowed to claim that its ancestors were gods, that people is ours." Livy As can be seen, the strength of the Roman Empire may have had a great deal to do with the belief that the emperors became deities once they had died. This supported them, and strengthened their power, as will be discussed later. The city of Rome itself was also built under religious beliefs: Romulus and Remus, the sons of the god Mars and a mortal (Rhea Silvia), had been suckled by wolves from birth.

Romeo then arranges a secret weeding with Friar Lawrence and Juliet tells the Nurse. They are then married by Friar Lawrence. On that same morning Mercutio is killed by Tybalt, Romeo the retaliates by killing Tybalt which gets him banished from Verona. Then Juliet's parents arrange a marriage for her and Count Paris. Juliet panics and receives a potion from Friar Lawrence which makes her a appear dead for 42 hours.

He is insulting Romeo and killing Mercutio, another Montague. Romeo kill's Tybalt, and as a punishment, he is to leave Verona and never return. The Friar has a plan to unite again Romeo and Juliet, who is supposed to marry Paris by her father demand. The friar makes a potion who will cause Juliet a temporary death-alike situation, and she will not have to marry Paris. Juliet agrees, drinks the portion and apparently die, and the Friar sends a messenger to inform Romeo, but the messenger fail to reach Romeo, and instead a friend of Romeo reaches him and tells him that Juliet is dead because he didn't knew that Juliet is only apparently dead because of the potion.

His plays include A Midsummer Night’s Dream which is about people who love the wrong people and a magic love potion confuses everyone even more, but eventually everything gets straightened out and everything works out. Another play would be Hamlet, a story about a brother killing a brother, taking the throne, and then marries his brother’s wife, and the protagonist, Hamlet, happens to be the dead king’s son, and the new king, or his uncle’s stepson. “The king of Denmark has been murdered by his brother, Claudius, who then becomes king and marries the dead king's widow.” (E.D. Hirsch). The last play that will be analyzed will be Othello, a play about a jealous soldier who seeks revenge by ruining a marriage and ends with everyone dead.

That character is Friar Lawrence, the master mind behind every move, large or small. Friar Lawrence is directly at fault for Romeo and Juliet’s death. Friar Lawrence is at fault for the Romeo and Juliet’s death because he proposed the dangerous plan of giving the “poison” to Juliet when she threatened to commit suicide. In Act 4 Scene 1 Friar Lawrence says, “Thou has the strength to “slay” thy self… take thou this vial, being then in bed… a cold and drowsy humor; for no pulse shall keep his native progress.” (Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet 4.1, 73, 95, 98-99.) When Friar Lawrence gives the potion, Juliet drinks it later at night and is found supposedly dead by the Nurse.

Jan Peter Balkenende said that “Our society is the product of several great religious and philosophical traditions. The ideas of the Greeks and Romans, Christianity, Judaism, humanism and the Enlightenment have made us who we are.” Religion has been very important in society, and in the human’s life as a belief in a god or in many gods. For Romans, the religion was the belief of many things as gods, sects, taboos, superstitions, rituals, and traditions, which were created by themselves that means that Roman religion was polytheistic. In addition, the thought of roman about religion was less spiritual than humanity to command their being and security. As a result, some Romans believed the religion was a public institution, but for others it was a part of their life.

The Roman Empire became unified and rose to power due to the unification of church and state through Christianity. “The transformation from a polytheist into a Christian state was the Roman Empire’s most important influence on Western civilization.”5 Whether by divine intervention or political necessity, Christianity had a profound influence on The Roman Empire and western civilizations.

The average Roman believed in multiple gods such as the “Deities of the Environment.” The best known of all this multitude of god known as the Olymp... ... middle of paper ... ...tures derived from their religions is astounding. The communal bond brings Christian and Roman communities together during festivals, mass and other community activities. While both Christians and Romans shared very similar core framework for their cultures, their religious practices are clearly distinct. It is these practices from multiple deity worship and separation of church and state we see that these two cultures contrasts put them on a collision course. While we know which religion ultimately usurps the other, it is still interesting to analyze these cultures differences.

Nusrat Kayser March 18, 2014 Art History Essay Topic 13 History plays a very important role in the development of art and architecture. Over time people, events, and religion, have contributed to the evolution of art. Christianity has become a very common and well established religion, however, in the past it was hidden and a few people would worship this religion secretly. Gradually, Christianity became a growing religion and it attracted many converts from different social statuses. Christian art was highly influenced by the Greco-Romans, but it was immensely impacted by the establishment of the Edict of Milan in the year 313 AD.