RELIGIO ROMANA
Discussion, information, links and recommended reading on Religion in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire.
Cults
Created by: *Maximius Flavius, 2007-09-13 10:59:04
For discussion on various (imported) cults that were not part of the state sanctioned religion of Rome.
"The various modes of worship, which prevailed in the Roman World, were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher, as equally false; and by the magistrate, as equally useful. And thus toleration produced not only mutual indulgence, but even religious accord." - Edward Gibbon
The cult of Cybele, the "Magna Mater," the Mother Goddess of Phrygia, was brought to Rome in the third century B.C. Cybele was primarily seen as a goddess of nature, responsible for the wilderness, but men also trusted her as a guardian of cities and nations.
General discussion of cults in the Roman Empire, where these do not have their own more specific thread or where the discussion relates to several different cults.