There are several opinions about the stages of development of Roman mythology. Some historians take as a basis the books of the priests "Indigitamenta", which says that in the world there are only impersonal harmful or beneficial forces - numina, characteristic of individual objects, living beings, actions. Initially, the gods were represented in the form of symbols: Jupiter - stone, Mars - spear, Vesta - fire. A characteristic feature of the early stage of the development of mythology was the uncertainty of the gender of deities (Pales), reflected in the presence of male and female hypostases in some of them (Faun - Faun, Pomon - Pomona), in addressing the gods as “god or goddess”. According to some historians, myths in Ancient Rome appeared only under the influence of Etruscan and Greek mythology. The Greeks brought their anthropomorphic gods and the myths associated with them to Rome, and taught the Romans to build temples. Some modern researchers have questioned the theory of numina, citing as an argument that the "Indigitaments" were created by priests, and not by the people. Many of the pontiffs were lawyers who were characterized by extreme detail in phenomena. Later, Etruscan and Greek influences began to be given less importance, emphasizing the originality of the Roman religion.

The ancient Roman religion was formed in parallel with the process of synoicism of communities that underlay the emergence of Rome, and the gods of individual communities merged with each other. As clan ties were replaced by neighbors and clans by surnames, the main role began to be played by cults of surnames grouped around Vesta, Lares and Penates. Along with them, there were cults of neighboring communities - curiae, cults of the entire Roman civil community, which, however, were not fenced off from each other. All of them were under the control of the college of pontiffs, which pushed aside the flamenian priests. It was believed that what was done for the benefit of the community also served the benefit of individual citizens, and vice versa. The gods were divided into heavenly, earthly and underground, but could act in all three worlds. The worlds of gods, people and the dead were delimited (the right of the gods, fas, did not mix with the right of man, ius) and at the same time interconnected (people did not start a single important business without knowing how the gods would react to it). A major role was played by augurs and haruspices, who explained the will of the gods by the flight and behavior of birds, the entrails (especially the liver) of sacrificial animals, and lightning strikes. The books of the Sibyl, associated with the cult of Apollo and kept secret by a special college of priests, served the same purpose. In the event of threatening signs, the priests, by special decree of the Senate, looked in books for instructions on what to do. It was believed that the gods of the enemy could be lured to the side of Rome using a certain formula of evocatio. With the transfer of the gods of the Italian cities to Rome, the images of the Roman gods became more complex. When Rome became the head of the Latin Union, it adopted the cults of its gods Diana of Aricia and Jupiter Latiaris. The center of the cult in Rome, which finally took shape as a single city, became the Capitoline Temple, and the god of Roman power and glory was Jupiter Capitolinus.

The further development of Roman mythology was influenced by three factors: the democratization of society caused by the victory of the plebs, victorious Roman aggression and acquaintance with more developed cultures and religions. Democratization, which made priestly positions previously occupied only by patricians available to plebeians, did not allow the development of a priestly caste. The highest authority became the civil community itself, which led to the absence of religious dogma. Citizens were obliged to honor the gods, who formed a unique part of their community (hence the later widespread idea of ​​the world as a great city of people and gods), but they had the right to think, say and write anything about them, up to their complete denial. Ethics was determined not by religion, but by the good of the civil community, which rewarded some with honor and punished others with contempt. The aversion revered by the Romans to personal strong power, to people who placed themselves above the people, excluded the cult of kings and heroes, and, if such existed in ancient times(Lara), then it stalled. A kind of justification for the wars of Rome, which cost many victims, was the established myth about Rome as a city founded according to the destiny of the gods, who destined it for power over the world, about the Roman people as chosen by the gods (one of the components of the myth about Rome is the myth about Aeneas).

The borrowing of Greek gods began no later than the end of the 6th - beginning of the 5th century. BC. with the introduction of the cult of Apollo, then the Romans began to get acquainted with Greek myths and mysteries dedicated to Dionysus, with Greek religious and philosophical movements. Interpreting myths, statesmen began to claim divine origin (the first was Scipio Africanus), the special patronage of a deity (Sulla and Caesar - the patronage of Venus, Anthony - Hercules and Dionysus), the immortality destined for their souls and a special place in the stellar spheres or fields blessed. The cult of generals spread in the provinces. Thus was prepared the imperial cult, which began with the deification of Caesar and Augustus, and then his successors. Emperors identified themselves with gods, their wives with goddesses. With the establishment of the empire, the “Roman myth”, due to the exclusion of the people from participation in state affairs and the loss of Rome’s character as a civil community, began to lose its popularity.

Undoubted merit Ancient Rome, which had its own mythology, in the perception, popularization and preservation of Greek mythology, in turning it into Greco-Roman: most of the brilliant works of Greek sculptors can only be seen by humanity thanks to their Roman copies; the poetic creations of the Greek people were preserved for us by Roman poets; many mythological subjects became known thanks to Ovid's poem "Metamorphoses".

Myths, gods, heroes, demons of Hellas and Rome. The word "antique" translated from Latin (antigues) means "ancient". Ancient mythology, along with biblical mythology, is rightfully considered the most significant in terms of the degree of its influence on the further development of the culture of many peoples, especially European ones. Ancient mythology refers to the community of Greek and Roman myths, which is why you can sometimes come across the term “Greco-Roman mythology,” although the basis for the Roman mythological system was still Greek. The Romans borrowed heavily from the legends of Hellas, sometimes interpreting the images in their own way and modifying the plots. Thanks to Latin and, to a lesser extent, ancient Greek, widespread in Europe, ancient myths not only became widespread, but were subjected to deep understanding and study. It is impossible to overestimate their aesthetic significance: there is not a single type of art left that does not have in its arsenal themes based on ancient mythology - they are found in sculpture, painting, music, poetry, prose, etc. As for literature, A. S. Pushkin said this beautifully in his time: “I don’t consider it necessary to talk about the poetry of the Greeks and Romans: it seems that every educated person should have a sufficient understanding of the creations of majestic antiquity.”

Greek mythology

Already in the most ancient monuments of Greek creativity, the anthropomorphic nature of Greek polytheism is clearly evident, explained by the national characteristics of the entire cultural development in this area; concrete ideas prevail over abstract ones, just as in quantitative terms humanoid gods and goddesses, heroes and heroines prevail over deities abstract meaning(which, in turn, receive anthropomorphic features). In one cult or another, one or another deity is associated with certain general or mythological ideas. Various combinations and hierarchies of the genealogy of ancient divine beings are known - “Olympus”, various systems of “twelve gods” (for example, in Athens - Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Athena, Ares, Aphrodite, Hermes, Hestia). Such connections are explained not only from the creative moment, but also from the conditions historical life Hellenes.

In the general religious consciousness of the Hellenes, there apparently did not exist any specific generally accepted dogma. The diversity of religious ideas was also expressed in the diversity of cults, the external environment of which is now becoming increasingly clear thanks to excavations and finds. We learn which gods or heroes were worshiped where and which one was worshiped where or where which one was worshiped predominantly (for example, Zeus - in Dodona and Olympia, Apollo - in Delphi and Delos, Athena - in Athens, Hera in Samos, Asclepius - in Epidaurus); we know shrines revered by all (or many) Hellenes, like the Delphic or Dodonian oracle or the Delian shrine; We know large and small amphictyony (cult communities). One can further distinguish between public and private cults. The all-consuming importance of the state also affected the religious sphere. The ancient world, generally speaking, knew neither inner church as kingdoms not of this world, nor the church as a state within a state: “church” and “state” were concepts in it that absorbed or conditioned each other, and, for example, the priest was the same state magistrate. This rule could not, however, be carried out with unconditional consistency everywhere; practice caused particular deviations and created certain combinations. Further, if a well-known deity was considered the main deity of a certain state, then the state sometimes recognized (as in Athens) some other cults; Along with these national cults, there were also individual cults of state divisions (for example, the Athenian demes), and domestic or family cults, as well as cults of private societies or individuals.

It is difficult to establish exactly when the first Greek myths and legends appeared, in which humanoid gods were revealed to the world, and whether they are a legacy of the ancient Cretan culture (3000-1200 BC or Mycenaean (before 1550 BC), when The names of Zeus and Hera, Athena and Artemis are already found on the tablets. Legends, traditions and tales were passed down from generation to generation by Aedic singers and were not recorded in writing. The first recorded works that brought to us unique images and events were Homer’s brilliant poems “The Iliad” and "Odyssey". Their recording dates back to the 6th century BC. According to the historian Herodotus, Homer could have lived three centuries earlier, that is, around the 9th-8th centuries BC. But, being an Aed, he used the work of his predecessors, even more ancient singers, the earliest of whom, Orpheus, according to some evidence, lived approximately in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC.

The myths about the journey of the Argonauts for the Golden Fleece, among whom Orpheus was, date back to this time. Modern science believes that a great epic cannot appear unexpectedly and by accident. Therefore, Homeric poems are considered as the completion of a long development of pre-Homeric, long-vanished heroic songs, traces of which, however, can be found in the very texts of the Iliad and Odyssey.

The unattainable example that the Homeric epic is to this day not only conveyed to descendants extensive knowledge about Hellenic life, but also made it possible to get an idea of ​​the Greeks’ views on the universe. All that exists was formed from Chaos, which was the struggle of the elements. The first to appear were Gaia - earth, Tartarus - hell and Eros - love. From Gaia was born Uranus, and then from Uranus and Gaia - Kronos, the Cyclops and the Titans. Having defeated the Titans, Zeus reigns on Olympus and becomes the ruler of the world and the guarantor of universal order, which finally comes to the world after much upheaval. The ancient Greeks were Europe's greatest mythmakers. It was they who came up with the word “myth” (translated from Greek as “tradition”, “legend”), which we today call amazing stories about gods, people and fantastic creatures. Myths were the basis for all literary monuments of Ancient Greece, including the poems of Homer, so beloved by the people. For example, from childhood the Athenians were familiar with the main characters of the Oresteia, a trilogy by the poet Aeschylus. None of the events in his plays were unexpected for the audience: neither the murder of Agamemnon, nor the revenge of his son Orestes, nor the persecution of Orestes by the Furies for the death of his mother. They were most interested in the playwright's approach to a complicated situation, his interpretation of the motives of guilt and atonement for sin. It is difficult to fully appreciate the significance of those theatrical productions, but, fortunately, people still have the sources of many of the tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides - the myths themselves, which remain very attractive even in modern times. summary. And in our century, people are worried about the story of Oedipus, the murderer of his father, as old as the world; the adventures of Jason, who crossed the Black Sea in search of the magical Golden Fleece; the fate of Elena, the most beautiful of women, which was the reason Trojan War; the journeys of the cunning Odysseus, one of the bravest Greek warriors; the amazing exploits of the mighty Hercules, the only hero who deserved immortality, as well as the stories of a great many other characters. The Romans, heirs to the cultural traditions of the Aegean world, equated many Italic deities with the gods of the Greek pantheon. In this regard, the story of the god of fertility, wine and orgies Dionysus-Bacchus is interesting. In 186 BC. e. The Roman Senate passed harsh laws against the worshipers of this god. Several thousand people were executed before the cult of Bacchus could be brought into line with moral standards.

Pantheism

The Hellenes deified Pan, the goat-footed, lustful god of nature, who was depicted with a huge erect phallus. It was the phallus that became the symbol of this deity. The Hellenes worshiped him in sacred groves and gardens; fountains in the form of the same phalluses were arranged in his honor; phallic statues, symbols, amulets were widespread; puppets with rising phalluses were obligatory participants in theatrical performances, official celebrations and traditional processions of farmers around the fields, with the goal of increasing the fertility of the land with the help of Pan. A whole host of spirits circled around this god: these are centaurs - the spirits of mountain streams, nymphs - the spirits of meadows, dryads - the spirits of trees, Silenes - the spirits of forests, satyrs - the spirits of vineyards, etc.

The agricultural population especially revered Demeter - the “mother of bread”, and in imitation of her, who became pregnant from a peasant in the field, a ritual of intercourse was performed directly on freshly plowed land, which had a magical meaning - influencing the forces of fertility of the earth. The Hellenes revered and feared Artemis, the goddess of wild animals. The urban population revered Hephaestus, the god of crafts, patron of blacksmiths, as well as Athena, who was not only the goddess of wisdom, but also the patroness of inventors, artisans, especially potters; It was believed that it was she who created the first potter's wheel. The townspeople also especially highlighted Hermes - the god of travel, trade, who protected from thieves; It was believed that he made the first scales, weights, and established measurement standards.

Cultural figures worshiped Apollo, the god of the arts, and the muses. The sailors made sacrifices to Poseidon, the god of the sea. All Hellenes united in the worship of Zeus - supreme god, and Moira - the goddess of fate. Temples were built for the gods and majestic statues were erected. It was believed that in sacred times the spirit of the gods entered the statues; therefore, the priests performed rituals of washing, dressing, eating and going to bed for the statues; on the days of the summer and winter solstice, rituals of sacred marriage were performed, when the statue of the god was carried to the house of the first archon, put into bed with the archon's wife, and the latter, it was believed, could become pregnant from the god. In Hellas, animal and human sacrifices were performed throughout its history. Themistocles, a contemporary of the 5th century. BC, the most enlightened century of Hellas, strangled three of the most beautiful youths with his own hands as a sacrifice on the eve of the Battle of Salamis, and he believed that he had won victory over the Persians only thanks to this sacrifice. In Athens, the most cultural and democratic polis, the crippled, sick, and criminals were always kept in special houses, who were declared “pharmaka,” i.e. "scapegoats" during disasters and were subject to ritual stoning or burning. On the stage of Hellenic theaters, the real blood of those tragic heroes was shed who, according to the script, were supposed to die - at the last moment, instead of the main actor, an understudy was brought out from among the same outcasts, and he died, becoming a victim to the gods. During the Hellenistic period, the cult of sacrifice intensified even more. The phallic cult acquired an unrestrained orgiastic character.

Roman mythology

Roman mythology in its initial development was reduced to animism, i.e., belief in the animation of nature. The ancient Italians worshiped the souls of the dead, and the main motive for worship was fear of their supernatural power. For the Romans, as for the Semites, the gods seemed to be terrible forces that had to be reckoned with, appeasing them by strict observance of all rituals. Every minute of his life, the Roman was afraid of the disfavor of the gods and, in order to secure their favor, he did not undertake or complete a single deed without prayer and established formalities. In contrast to the artistically gifted and active Hellenes, the Romans did not have folk epic poetry; their religious ideas were expressed in a few, monotonous and meager in content myths. In the gods the Romans saw only the will (numen), which intervened in human life.

The Roman gods had neither their own Olympus nor genealogy, and were depicted in the form of symbols: Mana - under the guise of snakes, Jupiter - under the guise of stone, Mars - under the guise of a spear, Vesta - under the guise of fire. The original system of Roman mythology - judging by the data that ancient literature tells us, modified under a variety of influences - boiled down to a listing of symbolic, impersonal, deified concepts, under the auspices of which a person’s life consisted from conception to death; no less abstract and impersonal were the deities of souls, whose cult formed the most ancient basis of family religion. At the second stage of mythological ideas there were deities of nature, mainly rivers, springs and the earth, as producers of all living things. Next come the deities of heavenly space, deities of death and the underworld, deities - personifications of the spiritual and moral aspects of man, as well as various relations of social life, and, finally, foreign gods and heroes. The deities personifying the souls of the dead included Manes, Lemures, Larvae, as well as Genii and Junones (representatives of the productive and vital principle in man and woman). At birth, geniuses move into a person; at death, they separate from the body and become manes (good souls). In honor of Juno and Genius, sacrifices were made on their birthdays and they were sworn in their name. Later, each family, city, state was given its own Geniuses for protection. The Laras, the patrons of fields, vineyards, roads, groves and houses, are related to the Geniuses; Each family had its own lar familiaris, who guarded the hearth and home (later there were two). In addition, there were special gods of the hearth (actually patrons of the pantry) - Penates, which included, among other things, Janus, Jupiter, Vesta. The deities, under whose protection all human life in all its manifestations was, were called dei indigetes (internally acting or living gods). There were as many of them as there were different activities, that is, an infinite number; every step of a person, every movement and action at different ages was patronized by special gods, lists (indigitamenta) of which were compiled in the 4th century BC. e. pontiffs, with detailed instructions on which deity with which prayer formula and in what cases of life should be addressed. Thus, there were gods who protected a person from the time of conception to birth (Janus Consivius, Saturnus, Fluonia, etc.), who helped at birth (Juno Lucina, Carmentis, Prorsa, Postversa, etc.), who protected the mother and child immediately after birth ( Intercidona, Deus Vagitanus, Cunina, etc. ), who took care of children in the first years of childhood (Potina, Educa, Cuba, Levana, Earinus, Fabulinus), gods of growth (Iterduca, Mens, Consus, Sentia, Voleta, Jnventas, etc.), patron gods of marriage (Juno juga, Afferenda, Domiducus, Virginensis, etc.). In addition, there were deities of activities (especially agriculture and cattle breeding) - for example Proserpina, Flora, Pomona (Proserpina, Flora, Pomona), and places - for example Nemestrinus, Cardea, Limentinus, Rusina. With the further evolution of mythological ideas, some of these deities became more individualized, others were added to their main attributes, and the mythological image became more prominent, approaching the human, and some deities were united in marriage pairs. At this stage of development of religious ideas, deities of nature appear - gods and goddesses of the water element, fields, forests, as well as some phenomena of human life. The deities of the springs (usually goddesses) were revered in the groves and also possessed the gift of prophecy and song, and were also assistants during childbirth. These deities included, for example, Camenae and Egeria - the prophetic wife of Numa. Of the river gods in Rome, Pater Tiberinus was revered, who was propitiated by the sacrifice of the Argeans (27 dolls were made from reeds, which were thrown into the water), Numicius (in Lavinia), Clitumnus (in Umbria), Volturnus (in Campania). The representative of the water element was Neptune, who later, through identification with Poseidon, became the god of the sea (from 399 BC).

The gods whose activity was manifested in nature and life and who had a brighter individuality include Janus, Vesta, Vulcan, Mars, Saturn and other gods of fertility and activity in the plant and animal kingdom. Janus from the patron of the door (janua) became the representative of every entrance in general, and then the god of the beginning, as a result of which the beginning of the day and the month (morning - hence Janus Matutinus) and all the calendars, as well as the month January named after him, were dedicated to him, as coinciding with the beginning of the arrival of days. He was called upon at the beginning of every task, especially during sacrifices, and was even considered the principium of everything and the father of the gods. The main sanctuary of the god Janus (Janus Geminus or Quirinus) was located at the northern end of the forum, opposite the temple of Vesta. It was an ancient arch that served as the entrance to the forum (the atrium of Rome). Its gates were opened in wartime; under the arch there was an image two-faced god . Another place of his cult was the Janiculum hill, named after him, on which, according to legend, Ancus Marcius erected a fortification to protect the trade route leading to Etruria and the harbors; in this regard, Janus was the patron god of trade and navigation. Related to Janus Matutinus is Mater Matuta, goddess of the dawn, giver of light, assistant in childbirth, and, together with Portumnus, guardian of harbors. Vesta personified the fire that burned in the hearth, both public and private. The cult of the goddess was led by six virgins, named after her by the Vestals. In contrast to Vesta, who personified the beneficial power of fire, Vulcan or Volcanus (Volcanus) was a representative of the destructive fire element. As the god of the elements, dangerous for city buildings, he had a temple on the Campus Martius. He was invoked in prayers and together with the fertility goddess, Maya, and was considered a deity of the sun and lightning. Later he was identified with Hephaestus and began to be revered as the god of blacksmithing and volcanoes. The main deities who patronized agriculture were Saturn (the god of sowing), Cons (the god of the harvest) and Ops, the wife of Cons. Later, Saturn was identified with the Greek Cronus, Ops with Rhea, and many features of the Greek cult were introduced into the Roman cult of these deities. Agriculture and cattle breeding were also patronized by other gods of forests and fields, who symbolized the forces of nature and were worshiped in groves and at springs. Their attributes and divine properties were as simple as the very life and environment of their worshipers. For everything that was dear and pleasant to the farmer and cattle breeder, they considered themselves obliged to the deities who sent their blessing. This included Faun, with his wife Faun (Bona Dea), a beneficent god, later identified with King Evander; the flight of the priests of Faun, the Luperci, was intended to bring down the blessing of God on people, animals and fields. Silvan (forest god, goblin), who frightened lonely travelers with prophetic voices, was the patron of borders and property; Liber and Libera - a couple who personified the fertility of fields and vineyards - were later identified with the Greek couple Dionysus and Persephone; Vertumnus and Pomona guarded the gardens and fruit trees; Feronia was considered the giver of a bountiful harvest; Flora was the goddess of blossom and fertility; Pales protected pastures and livestock. Diana patronized fertility, as indicated, perhaps, by the combination of her holiday (August 13) with a sacrifice in honor of Vertumnus. In addition, Diana protected slaves, especially those who sought refuge in her grove (near Tusculum, near Aricia), helped women during childbirth, and sent fertility to families; later she became identified with Artemis, becoming the goddess of the hunt and the moon. The deities who sent fertility also included Mars - one of the national gods most revered by the Italians, perhaps the ancient deity of the sun. They turned to him with prayers for the sending of fertility to the fields and vineyards; the so-called sacred spring (ver sacrum) was established in his honor. He was also the god of war (Mars Gradivus); Its military attributes (sacred spears and shield) indicate the antiquity of the cult. The totem of Mars, picus (woodpecker), over time became the god of forests and meadows, the patron of agriculture, and was worshiped, under the name Picumnus, together with Pilumnus, the god of threshing. The Sabine god Quirinus also stands close to Mars; in later legends, Mars was made the father of Romulus, and Quirinus was identified with Romulus. The most powerful of all the mentioned deities were the gods of heaven and air space, Jupiter and Juno: Jupiter - as the god of daylight, Juno - as the goddess of the moon. The thunderstorm was attributed to Jupiter, as among the Greeks - to Zeus; therefore Jupiter was considered the most powerful of the gods. His weapon is lightning; in ancient times, in special cults it was even called lightning. He sent fertilizing rains (Elicius) and was revered as the god-giver of fertility and abundance (Liber). In his honor, holidays associated with the grape harvest were established; he was the patron of agriculture, cattle breeding and the younger generation.

On the contrary, atmospheric phenomena that bring danger and death to people were attributed to Veiovis, Vediovis - evil Jupiter; akin to Jupiter, Summanus (sub mane - in the morning) was the god of night storms. As an assistant in battles, Jupiter was called Stator, as a giver of victory - Victor; In his honor, a college of fetials was established, which demanded satisfaction from the enemies, declared war and concluded treaties in compliance with well-known rituals. As a result, Jupiter was called upon to confirm the fidelity of the word, like Deus Fidius - the god of oaths. In this regard, Jupiter was also the patron of boundaries and property (Juppiter Terminus or simply Terminus). The chief priest of Jupiter was the flamen Dialis; Flamin's wife - flaminica - was a priestess of Juno. The cult of Juno was widespread throughout Italy, especially among the Latins, Oscans, and Umbrians; In honor of her, the month Junius or Junonius received its name. As a lunar goddess, all Kalends were dedicated to her; that is why it was called Lucina or Lucetia. Like Juno Juga or Jugalis or Pronuba, she sanctified marriages, like Sospita she protected the inhabitants. The deities of the underworld did not have that bright individuality that amazes us in the corresponding department of Greek mythology; The Romans did not even have a king of this underworld. The god of death was Orcus; Along with him, the goddess is mentioned - the patroness of the dead - Tellus, Terra mater - who received shadows into her bosom. As the mother of Lares and Manas, she was called Lara, Larunda and Mania; like avia Larvarum - she personified the horror of death. The same religious ideas that created a number of dei indigetes - deities representing individual human actions and activities - gave rise to a number of deities personifying moral and spiritual abstract concepts and human relations. These include Fortuna (Fate), Fides (Loyalty), Concordia (Concord), Honos and Virtus (Honor and Bravery), Spes (Hope), Pudicitia (Bashfulness), Salus (Salvation), Pietas (Kinship Love), Libertas (Freedom). ), Clementia (Meekness), Pax (Peace), etc. In the imperial era, almost every abstract concept was personified in the image of a woman, with the corresponding attribute. Finally, there were also gods that the Romans adopted from other peoples, mainly from the Etruscans and Greeks. Greek influence was expressed especially strongly after the Sibylline books were brought to Rome from Qom - a collection of Greek oracle sayings, which became the book of revelation of the Roman religion. Greek religious concepts and features of the Greek cult were firmly established in Rome, either merging with related Roman ones, or displacing pale Roman ideas. The struggle between the relief images of the Greek religion and the vague outlines of the Roman religion ended with the fact that Roman mythological ideas almost completely lost their national character, and only thanks to the conservative cult did the Roman religion retain its individuality and influence. Foreign deities include the Etruscan Minerva (Menrva, Minerva), the goddess of thinking and reason, patroness of crafts and arts. Thanks to the comparison with Pallas, Minerva entered the Capitoline triad and had her cella in the Capitoline temple. The difference between Minerva and Pallas was only that the first had nothing to do with the war. Venus was probably the ancient Italian goddess of beauty and prosperity, but in the cult she merged with the Greek Aphrodite. Mercury was originally known as deus indiges - the patron of trade (merx, mercatura), but later, through comparison with Hermes, took on the attributes of the Greek god. Hercules (an adaptation of the Greek Ήρακλής in Latin) became known in Rome with the establishment of lectisternia; the tales about him are entirely borrowed from Greek mythology. Called Ceres from 496 BC. e. the Greek Demeter was known, whose cult in Rome remained completely Greek, so that even the priestesses at her temple were Greek women. Apollo and Dis pater are also purely Greek deities, of which the latter corresponded to Pluto, as indicated by the comparison of the Latin name with the Greek (Dis = dives - rich = Πλούτων). In 204, the sacred stone of the Great Idean Mother from Pessinunt was brought to Rome; in 186 there was already a Greek holiday in honor of Dionysus-Liber - Bacchanalia; then the cults of Isis and Serapis moved from Alexandria to Rome, and the mysteries from Persia solar god Mithras. The Romans did not have heroes, in the Greek sense, because there was no epic; only a few individual gods of nature, in different localities, were revered as the founders of ancient institutions, unions and cities. This includes the most ancient kings (Faun, Picus, Latinus, Aeneas, Iulus, Romulus, Numa, etc.), depicted not so much as heroes of wars and battles, but as organizers of states and legislators. And in this regard, Latin legends were formed not without the influence of the Greek epic form, in which a significant part of Roman religious material was clothed in general.

A special characteristic feature of these heroes was that, although they seemed to be prehistoric figures, they ended their lives not with death, but with disappearance to an unknown destination (the term non comparuit was included here). Such was, according to legend, the fate of Aeneas, Latinus, Romulus, Saturn and others. The heroes of Italy do not leave offspring behind them, as we see in Greek legends; although some Roman surnames traced their origins to heroes (Fabius - from Hercules, Julia - from Ascanius), no genealogical legends were created from these legends; Only a few liturgical hymns and drinking songs with their echo have survived. Only with the penetration of Greek forms and ideas into the Roman spiritual life did Roman genealogical legends develop, composed and disseminated, for the benefit of the Roman aristocracy, by Greek rhetoricians and grammarians who found shelter in Rome as guests, friends and slaves: teachers and educators. The Roman gods were more moral than the Greek ones. The Romans were able to subordinate all the forces of man to discipline and turn them to one goal - the exaltation of the state; Accordingly, the Roman gods, caring for human life, were defenders of justice, property rights and other human rights. That is why the moral influence of the Roman religion was great, especially during the heyday of Roman citizenship. We find praise for the piety of the ancient Romans in most Roman and Greek writers, especially in Livy and Cicero; the Greeks themselves found that the Romans were the most pious people in the whole world. Although their piety was outward, it proved respect for customs, and the main virtue of the Romans, patriotism, rested on this respect.

Literature

Mythology of the ancient world, -M.: Belfax, 2002

Legends and tales of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, -M.: Pravda, 1988

Everyone is somehow accustomed to combining the mythology of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. It seems that what else can be found among the Romans, who only knew how to give new names to foreign gods? Zeus - Jupiter, Hera - Juno, Ares - Mars, Aphrodite - Venus, just remember, and that's the end of it!

But this is just the tip of the iceberg, and you can try to dive deeper.

Who told?

It is extremely difficult to judge the most ancient period of Roman mythology, because scientists have to rely on much later sources.

However, the priestly books “Indigita-menti” are quite famous. Official records of the life of ancient Roman communities, records of ancient Greek authors in response to events in Hesperia (as they called ancient Italy), hymns of the colleges of the Arval brothers, etc. have been preserved.

The main sources are considered to be the first treaties of Rome with other cities and states, records of the college of pontiffs (priests), as well as records of the main events of each year, which later became known as the annals (Latin annus - year).

However, the main sources are considered to be Virgil's Aeneid, Livy's history books, Ovid's Fasti and the fourth book of Propertius.

Cosmogony and gods

For a long time it was believed that Roman mythology in its initial stages of development was reduced to animism. The worship of the souls of the dead was due to fear of their supernatural power, as was the worship of the animate natural phenomena. The Romans never began or finished anything without securing the favor of the gods, without performing all the required rituals, without offering prayers and making the necessary sacrifices.

It was believed that the Romans distinguished only favorable or unfavorable non-personified forces - numina (numina), and there were a great many of them: the deity of sowing and growth, flowering and marriage, harvest and conception, walking and returning, etc., and their names were formed from the name of the action being performed.

Moreover, it was also believed that even the few personal gods that arose later did not have an anthropomorphic embodiment, but only symbols: for example, Jupiter is a stone, Mars is a spear, Vesta is fire.

In the primitive communal period, the cult of ancestors, honored in every clan, was of great importance: the Penates, the patrons of the hearth and clan, and the Lares, the patrons of the home, family and the entire community as a whole.

However, although the ancient cosmogony of the Romans still remains a mystery, researchers gradually began to find evidence that Roman mythology itself went through approximately the same stages of development as other peoples during the primitive communal period.

The most ancient triad of deities was identified: Jupiter (who supplanted the original creator of the world, Janus) is the embodiment of religiosity and priesthood, Mars is the military hypostasis, Quirin is the economic hypostasis.

Janus and Vesta guarded the doors and the family hearth, the Lares protected the field and the house, Palaeus the pastures, Saturn the crops, Ceres the growth of cereals, Pomona the tree fruits, and Cone and Opa the harvest.

In addition, according to the conclusions of scientists, the Romans believed that people as a family trace their origins to sacred trees, oaks, and therefore groves were dedicated to each numina deity, where rituals were performed and sacrifices were made, and the trees themselves played a very important role in life states. For example, sacrifices were made to the oak tree on the Capitoline Hill, and the withering of any fig tree, the tree under which, according to legend, the she-wolf fed the future founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, was perceived as an extremely formidable and unfavorable sign.

Since the cult of animals was very developed, the interpretation of their behavior and the study of the sacrifices made, or, more simply, fortune-telling, so widespread in Ancient Rome, became of great importance.

Justified...by the state

What is the uniqueness of Roman mythology in comparison with other mythological traditions?

If you think about it, it becomes obvious: the majority ancient myths about the gods were not preserved; they were gradually but steadily replaced by myths about heroes.

The very structure of Roman society, in which individual communities sought to unite into large urban conglomerates, in which politics played an increasingly greater role with each century, and the state became an intermediary between the citizen and the gods - this is the originality of Ancient Rome.

Myths telling about heroes are a reflection of the deep mutual penetration of history and myth in the minds of the Romans. A person’s life is filled with the divine presence, every moment of it a person is responsible for his actions.

And if they are performed for the benefit of the community, then the gods are pleased with you.

Such are the myths about the Sabine women, Numa Pompilius, Lucretia, Scaevola, Coriolanus and many others.

Of course, it cannot be denied that Roman culture constantly absorbed the culture of the peoples around it. Yes, the Romans renamed and adopted almost the entire Greek pantheon, made many borrowings from the Etruscans and other peoples, but there was a very simple reason for this. Rome was a military state, which, through conquests, constantly expanded its territories and assimilated the culture of the conquered peoples.

Roman heroic myth explained the past, justified the present, and guided the future. Despite some initial primitiveness, he made a person’s life filled with meaning: service to the fatherland.

And what is the end?

The Roman religion, open and constantly changing under external influences, simply could not develop a single concept about the end of the world.

Like any military state, Rome was doomed to gradual decline and destruction or to inevitable transformation. Roman mythology, having gone through various stages of development - from the adoption of the Greek pantheon to the formation of the cult of the emperor, eventually became... a kind of basis for the victory of Christianity as a religion.

The myth of the Roman left-hander

In 509 BC. e. The Etruscan king Lare Porsenna declared war on Rome. A huge army invaded the country and was getting closer and closer to the capital. A little more - and Rome would have been taken by storm.

Then one of the young Roman patricians, Gaius Mucius Cordus, decided to infiltrate the Etruscan camp and kill their king. Guy knew the Etruscan language and, dressed in the clothes of enemies, easily entered the camp, but he could not understand which of those sitting at the main tent was King Porsenna. He could not ask, for fear of giving himself away.

Then the young man decided that the most elegantly dressed person was the enemy ruler. He attacked him and stabbed him with a dagger. But alas! It turned out to be just one of the king’s courtiers, the greatest lover of outfits and decorations.

Gaius Mucius was immediately captured, but refused to answer questions. Then they began to threaten him with torture. Seeing a tripod with a blazing fire, the young man himself went up to it and put it down. right hand into the flame and silently, without making a sound, looked at Porsenna until his hand was charred.

Amazed by the courage and incredible stamina of the patrician, Porsenna exclaimed: “If all the Romans are so persistent, then it is impossible to defeat them.” He released Mucius, who from then on began to bear the nickname Scaevola (Left-handed), and decided to begin negotiations on a truce.

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Main part

Mythology of ancient Rome

Main part

Mythology of ancient Rome

Introduction.

A myth is a legend, a legend of a special kind. In the very in brief its main feature is expressed in the following definition: myth is fiction accepted as truth. People who accept myth as truth cannot see it as fiction; and those who consider myth to be fiction cannot accept it as truth. This means that a myth is truth for some people and fiction for others.

Mythology acts not just as a collection of myths, but also as a cultural form (“form of social consciousness”) in which people perceive and understand the world around them, capture the life experience they have accumulated, preserve and pass it on from generation to generation.

Roman religion and mythology were subordinated to politics, the moral principles of Rome and civic duty. Citizens should not have doubts about the structure of their lives and the difference between classes. All rulers are chosen by the gods, heroes and sons of the gods. Therefore, they are closer to the celestials, and they know better what life should be like. Many myths and legends of Ancient Rome glorified heroism and were epic. And the heroes, of course, were mostly emperors.

It should be noted that if among the Greeks religion had a divine meaning, then among the Romans the gods were an integral part of everyday life. They were necessary for plowing the land, sowing, successful germination, rich harvest, etc. The gods each patronized a certain type of activity among people, certain natural phenomena and needed sacrifices. In other words, rituals and cult occupied a central place in the religion of the ancient Romans. This could not but affect myths and legends.

"Roman Myth".

Roman mythology is a body of traditional stories relating to the legendary origins of Ancient Rome and its religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. The term "Roman mythology" can also refer to the modern study of these ideas, as well as material from other cultures of any period that examines Roman literature and art.

The Romans generally treated these traditional narratives as historical, even if they contained miracles or elements of the supernatural. The narratives often deal with politics and morality and how an individual's personal integrity relates to his responsibility to society and the Roman state. An important theme is heroism. When the narrative concerned Roman religious practice, it was more concerned with ritual, divination, and social institutions than with theology or cosmogony.

The study of Roman religion and myths is complicated by the early influence of Greek religion on the Apennine Peninsula during the protohistoric period of Roman history, and later by the artistic imitation of Greek literary models by Roman authors. The Romans curiously sought to identify their own gods with the Greek ones, and reinterpreted the stories of the Greek deities under the names of their Roman counterparts. Early Roman myths and legends also have dynamic intertwinings with Etruscan religion, which is less documented than Greek.

While Roman mythology may lack as much of a divine narrative as Greek literature, the image of Romulus and Remus suckling a she-wolf is as famous as any image in Greek mythology except the Trojan. horse Because Latin literature was more widely known in Europe during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the Romans' interpretations of Greek myths often had a greater influence on pictorial representations of "classical mythology" than did Greek sources. In particular, the versions of Greek myths in Ovid's Metamorphoses, written during the reign of Augustus, came to be regarded as canonical.

The character of the Roman myth.

Because ritual plays a central role in Roman religion, as well as in the myths created by the Greeks, it is sometimes doubted that much of Roman myth is of original Roman origin. This perception is a product of 19th-century Romanticism and classical studies, which regarded Greek civilization as more “credibly creative.” But from the Renaissance to the 18th century, Roman myths were part of the inspiration for European painting. Roman traditions are especially rich in historical myths or legends concerning the founding and rise of the city. These narratives focus on a human figure in whose life there are only occasional divine interventions, but an all-pervading sense of divinity always accompanies his fate. IN early period Roman history and myth have a mutual and complementary relationship. As T. P. Wiseman notes:

Roman history still matters as much as it did to Dante in 1300, Shakespeare in 1600, and the Founding Fathers of the United States in 1776. What does it take to be a free citizen? Can a superpower also be a republic? How does well-meaning power turn into murderous tyranny?

The main sources of Roman myths are Virgil's Aeneid. And the first few books of the history of Libya. Other important sources are Ovid's Fastas, a six-part book of poems structured according to the Roman religious calendar, and Propertius's fourth book of elegies. Scenes from Roman myth also appear in Roman wall paintings, on coins and in sculpture, particularly reliefs.

Divine storytelling played a more important role in the Greek system of religious belief than among the Romans, for whom ritual and cult were primary. Although Roman religion was not based on scripture and its interpretation, priestly literature was one of the earliest written forms of Latin prose. The books (Libri) and commentaries (Commentarii) of the college of pontiffs and augurs contained religious procedures, prayers, decrees and opinions on points of religious law. Although at least some of this material was available for consultation by the Roman Senate, it was often an occultum genus litterarum, an arcane form of literature to which only the priests had access. Prophecies relating to world history and the fate of Rome, appearing at critical moments in history, were unexpectedly discovered in the obscure books of the Sibyls, which, according to legend, were acquired by Tarquin the Proud at the end of the 6th century BC from the Cuman Sibyls. Some aspects of archaic Roman religion were recorded in the lost theological works of a 1st century BC scholar. e. Mark Terence Varro, and are now known from the works of other classical and Christian authors.

The Roman pantheon has many analogues of the Greek gods and goddesses, and has its own deities and lower spirits. Particularly revered gods were called “fathers” (“patres”), the lower ones were called “famuli divi” and “virgines divi”. Divine law (“fas”) was not confused with human law (“ius”). Lower deities (“numina”) existed among the Romans apparently already in an early era. The Greek books “Indigitaments” list the deities of sowing, seed germination, flowering and ripening, harvesting ears, marriage, conception, development of the embryo, birth of a child, his first cry, going for a walk, returning home, etc., in connection with which initially, for some, the gender was not fixed (cf. Pales, Fawn - Fawn, Pomona - Pomon, etc.). From the mass of numinas, the triad of the Roman pantheon stood out - Jupiter, Mars and Quirinus, reflecting the threefold nature of civil functions - respectively religious-priestly, military and economic. From the calendar of holidays attributed to Numa Pompilius and the list of flamens assigned to them, from the references to ancient sanctuaries, it is known about the existence of the cults of Vulcan, Palatua, Furrina, Flora, Carmenta, Ceres, Pomona, Volupia, etc. Around the same time, the colleges of Luperci and Salii were doubled. Class cults appeared (Neptune and Dioscuri among the patricians, Ceres and Liber among the plebeians) and individual family cults (among the Cornelii, Emilians, Claudii and possibly others), grouped around Vesta, Lares and Penates. There were also cults of rural communities.

First generation - gods borrowed from Greek religion (according to Hyginus)

Children of Chaos:

Erebus (Darkness)

Knox (Night)

Etar (Light)

Diez (Day)

Children of Etar and Diez:

Tellus/Terra (Earth)

Tartarrus (Abyss)

Cupid (Love)

Tempus (Time)

Children of Chaos and Tellus:

Uranus (Sky)

Mar (Sea)

Second generation of deities:

Children of Uranus and Tellus - titans:

Hyperion

Justice

Children Mara and Tellus:

Eurybia

Taumanthus

Turscivers

Third generation

Jupiter Optimus Maximus (god of thunder and lightning)

The gods were listed by the poet Quintus Ennius at the end of the 3rd century BC, with reference to an unknown Greek poet

Third generation

The main (Olympic) gods are the children of Saturn and Ops

Jupiter Optimus Maximus (god of thunder and lightning)

Juno the Mentor (goddess of family and marriage)

Neptune (god of the seas and oceans)

Ceres (goddess of fertility and agriculture)

Vesta (goddess of quiet fire, home comfort and family traditions)

Pluto/Dispater (god of wealth, lord of the dead and death)

The gods were listed by the poet Quintus Ennius at the end of the 3rd century BC, with reference to an unknown Greek poet

Fourth generation (children of Jupiter)

Vulcan (god of fire, son of Jupiter and Juno)

Mars (god of war and power, son of Jupiter and Juno)

Bacchus/Bacchus (god of wine, son of Jupiter and Libera)

Mercury (god of travelers, merchants and thieves, son of Jupiter and the Pleiades of Maya)

Minerva (goddess of wisdom and science, daughter of Jupiter and Metis)

Diana (goddess of hunting and war, daughter of Jupiter and Latona)

Phoebus (god of hunting and poetry, eldest son of Jupiter and Latona)

Venus (goddess of love, marriage and passion, youngest adopted daughter of Jupiter and Juno; child from the body of the dying Uranus-Sky)

Borrowed Gods:

The absorption of neighboring local gods occurred constantly as the Roman state conquered surrounding territories. The Romans usually gave the same honors to the local gods of the conquered territory as to the gods of the Roman state religion. In addition to Castor and Pollux, the conquered settlements of Italy contributed to the Roman pantheon in the form of Diana, Minerva, Hercules, Venus and lesser deities, some of which were Italic deities, others originally derived from Greek culture Magna Graecia. In 203 BC. the cult object representing Cybele was brought from the city of Pessinus in Phrygia and was welcomed with due ceremony to Rome, many centuries before its territory was annexed to Rome. Two poets of the era, Lucretius and Catullus, expressed disapproval of her wild, ecstatic cult in the mid-first century BC.

In some cases, deities of enemies of power were formally invited to undergo the ritual of evocation in order to take their place in new sanctuaries in Rome.

Communities of foreigners (peregrines) and former slaves (libertines) continued their religious practices within the city. Mithras arrived in Rome in this way, and his popularity in the Roman army spread his cult to places as far away as Roman Britain. Important Roman deities were eventually identified with the anthropomorphic Greek gods and goddesses, and many of their attributes and myths were adopted with them.

Conclusion.

In general, the Romans borrowed gods not only from the Greeks, but also from all the peoples they conquered. They revered foreign gods as well as their own. The culture of Ancient Rome was intertwined with the achievements of other peoples. It cannot be said that the Romans blindly copied other people’s legends in their works. Much was processed, some were brought to perfection and surpassed in beauty the original sources.

Reading the myths and legends of Ancient Rome is no less interesting than fairy tales. Moreover, many of them are still pearls of literary art, on the creation of which many of the greatest ancient Roman poets spent many years. For example, Virgil wrote the Aeneid for 10 long years.

Plan

Introduction

Mythology of Ancient Rome

Architecture of Ancient Rome

Art of Ancient Rome

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

Ancient culture and civilizations developed within the framework of the history of “eternal Rome” - a state that evolved from a peasant community on the river. Tiber to a world power - rulers of the whole world. Antique culture reached its highest peak during the Roman civilization.

For more than twenty centuries (VII century BC - V century AD), Roman culture existed, which was a more complex phenomenon than Greek. Rome, later than Greece, appeared on the stage of world history and was the capital of an immense empire that captured all the territories around the Mediterranean. “All roads lead to Rome,” says the proverb, as travelers and traders flocked here from all over the world...

Rome exerted its influence on the Hellenistic territories it conquered. Thus, a synthesis of Greek and Roman cultures was formed, the result of which was the late antique Greco-Roman culture (I-V centuries AD), which formed the basis of the civilization of Byzantium, Western Europe and many Slavic states.

Ancient Rome means not only the city of Rome of the ancient era, but also all the countries and peoples it conquered that were part of the colossal Roman power - from the British Isles to Egypt. Roman art is the highest achievement and result of development ancient art, since it was created not only by the Romans, but by the peoples they conquered: the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Shins, inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula, Gaul, Ancient Germany, who sometimes stood at a higher level of cultural development.

As we see, Rome extended its power not only to the lands of its neighbors, but also to the surrounding vast countries. Even then, in ancient times, contemporaries were looking for an explanation for these impressive achievements: historians and poets found their reasons mainly in the strength of Roman weapons and the heroism of the Romans. But what then caused the collapse of the great power, was it only the invasion of the barbarians? Did the cultural aspect play any role here?

In my work, I would like to follow the main directions of development of Roman culture and highlight a number of features in it. Also, during the analysis, try to determine how great the influence of the cultures of the conquered countries was.

Mythology of Ancient Rome

There are several opinions about the stages of development of Roman mythology. Some historians take as a basis the books of the priests "Indigitamenta", which says that in the world there are only impersonal harmful or beneficial forces - numina, characteristic of individual objects, living beings, actions. Initially, the gods were represented in the form of symbols: Jupiter - stone, Mars - spear, Vesta - fire. A characteristic feature of the early stage of the development of mythology was the uncertainty of the gender of deities (Pales), reflected in the presence of male and female hypostases in some of them (Faun - Faun, Pomon - Pomona), in addressing the gods as “god or goddess”. According to some historians, myths in Ancient Rome appeared only under the influence of Etruscan and Greek mythology. The Greeks brought their anthropomorphic gods and the myths associated with them to Rome, and taught the Romans to build temples. Some modern researchers have questioned the theory of numina, citing as an argument that the "Indigitaments" were created by priests, and not by the people. Many of the pontiffs were lawyers who were characterized by extreme detail in phenomena. Later, Etruscan and Greek influences began to be given less importance, emphasizing the originality of the Roman religion.

The ancient Roman religion was formed in parallel with the process of synoicism of communities that underlay the emergence of Rome, and the gods of individual communities merged with each other. As clan ties were replaced by neighbors, and clans by surnames, the main role began to be played by the cults of surnames, grouped around Vesta, Lares and Penates. Along with them, there were cults of neighboring communities - curiae, cults of the entire Roman civil community, which, however, were not fenced off from each other. All of them were under the control of the college of pontiffs, which pushed aside the flamenian priests. It was believed that what was done for the benefit of the community also served the benefit of individual citizens, and vice versa. The gods were divided into heavenly, earthly and underground, but could act in all three worlds. The worlds of gods, people and the dead were delimited (the right of the gods, fas, did not mix with the right of man, ius) and at the same time interconnected (people did not start a single important business without knowing how the gods would react to it). A major role was played by augurs and haruspices, who explained the will of the gods by the flight and behavior of birds, the entrails (especially the liver) of sacrificial animals, and lightning strikes. The books of the Sibyl, associated with the cult of Apollo and kept secret by a special college of priests, served the same purpose. In the event of threatening signs, the priests, by special decree of the Senate, looked in books for instructions on what to do. It was believed that the gods of the enemy could be lured to the side of Rome using a certain formula of evocatio. With the transfer of the gods of the Italian cities to Rome, the images of the Roman gods became more complex. When Rome became the head of the Latin Union, it adopted the cults of its gods Diana of Aricia and Jupiter Latiaris. The center of the cult in Rome, which finally took shape as a single city, became the Capitoline Temple, and the god of Roman power and glory was Jupiter Capitolinus.

The further development of Roman mythology was influenced by three factors: the democratization of society caused by the victory of the plebs, victorious Roman aggression and acquaintance with more developed cultures and religions. Democratization, which made priestly positions previously occupied only by patricians available to plebeians, did not allow the development of a priestly caste. The highest authority became the civil community itself, which led to the absence of religious dogma. Citizens were obliged to honor the gods, who formed a unique part of their community (hence the later widespread idea of ​​the world as a great city of people and gods), but they had the right to think, say and write anything about them, up to their complete denial. Ethics was determined not by religion, but by the good of the civil community, which rewarded some with honor and punished others with contempt. The aversion revered by the Romans to strong personal power, to people who placed themselves above the people, excluded the cult of kings and heroes, and, if such existed in ancient times (lares), then it died out. A kind of justification for the wars of Rome, which cost many victims, was the established myth about Rome as a city founded according to the destiny of the gods, who destined it for power over the world, about the Roman people as chosen by the gods (one of the components of the myth about Rome is the myth about Aeneas).

The borrowing of Greek gods began no later than the end of the 6th - beginning of the 5th centuries. BC. with the introduction of the cult of Apollo, then the Romans began to get acquainted with Greek myths and mysteries dedicated to Dionysus, with Greek religious and philosophical movements. Interpreting myths, statesmen began to claim divine origin (the first was Scipio Africanus), the special patronage of a deity (Sulla and Caesar - the patronage of Venus, Anthony - Hercules and Dionysus), the immortality destined for their souls and a special place in the stellar spheres or fields blessed. The cult of generals spread in the provinces. Thus was prepared the imperial cult, which began with the deification of Caesar and Augustus, and then his successors. Emperors identified themselves with gods, their wives with goddesses. With the establishment of the empire, the “Roman myth”, due to the exclusion of the people from participation in state affairs and the loss of Rome’s character as a civil community, began to lose its popularity. The undoubted merit of Ancient Rome, which had its own mythology, was in the perception, popularization and preservation of Greek mythology, in turning it into Greco-Roman. Most of the brilliant works of Greek sculptors can only be seen by humanity thanks to their Roman copies; the poetic creations of the Greek people were preserved for us by Roman poets; many mythological subjects became known thanks to Ovid's poem "Metamorphoses".

Architecture of Ancient Rome

The architecture of Ancient Rome as a distinctive art was formed in the period of the 4th-1st centuries. BC e. The architectural monuments of Ancient Rome, even in ruins, captivate with their majesty. The Romans marked the beginning of a new era of world architecture, in which the main place belonged to public buildings designed for huge numbers of people: basilicas, baths, theaters, amphitheaters, circuses, libraries. The list of building structures in Rome must also include religious buildings: temples, altars, tombs. In their buildings, the Romans sought to emphasize the strength, power, and greatness that overwhelmed man.

Throughout the ancient world, the architecture of Rome has no equal in the skill of engineering, the variety of types of structures, the richness of compositional forms, and the scope of construction. The Romans introduced engineering structures (aqueducts, bridges, roads, canals) as architectural objects into the urban, rural ensemble and landscape, and used new building materials and load-bearing structures.

No less important in the development of Roman culture was the art of Hellenism with its architecture, which tended to be on a grandiose scale. But the noble grandeur and harmony that formed the basis of Greek art gave way in Rome to the desire to exalt the power of the emperors and the military power of the empire. Hence the large-scale exaggerations, external effects, and the false pathos of huge structures.

The variety of structures and the scale of architecture in Ancient Rome changes significantly compared to ancient Greece: a colossal number of huge buildings are erected. All this required a change in the technical foundations of construction. Completing tasks with the help of old technology has become impossible: in Rome, new structures are being developed and are becoming widespread - made of brick and concrete, making it possible to solve the problem of covering large spans, speeding up construction many times over, and - most importantly - limiting the use of qualified craftsmen, moving the construction processes on the shoulders of low-level slave workers. Around the 4th century. BC e. the solution began to be used as a binding material in the 2nd century. BC e. A new technology has emerged for the construction of monolithic walls and vaults based on mortars and aggregate stone. An artificial monolith was obtained by mixing mortar and sand with crushed stone called “Roman concrete”. Hydraulic additions of volcanic sand - pozzolana (named after the area from which it was exported) made it waterproof and extremely durable. This caused a revolution in construction. This type of masonry was done quickly and made it possible to experiment with shape. The Romans knew all the advantages of baked clay, made bricks of various shapes, and used metal instead of wood to ensure fire safety of buildings. Some secrets of Roman builders have not yet been solved; for example, the “Roman malta” solution is still a mystery to chemists.

The squares of Rome and other cities were decorated with triumphal arches in honor of military victories. Triumphal arches are a permanent or temporary monumental frame of a passage, a ceremonial structure in honor of military victories and other significant events. The construction of triumphal arches and columns had, above all, political significance.

The largest dome structure in terms of size ancient world is the Pantheon. This is a temple in the name of all gods, personifying the idea of ​​unity of the numerous peoples of the empire. The main part of the Pantheon is a round Greek temple, completed by a dome with a diameter of 43.4 m, through the openings of which light penetrates into the interior of the temple.

The basilica served as an administrative building where the Romans spent most of the day. The second part of the day was associated with rest and took place in the thermal baths. The baths were a complex combination of spaces associated with recreation, sports and personal hygiene. They contained rooms for gymnastics and athletics, halls for recreation, conversations, libraries, doctors' offices, baths, swimming pools, retail premises, gardens, etc.

Art of Ancient Rome The art of ancient Rome, like ancient Greece , developed within the framework of a slave society, so it is these two main components that are meant when they talk about “ancient art.” The art of Rome is considered the culmination of the artistic creativity of ancient society. It is right to assert that, although the ancient Roman masters continued the Hellenic traditions, the art of ancient Rome is an independent phenomenon, determined by the course and course of historical events, and living conditions, and the originality of religious views, the character traits of the Romans, and other factors. Roman art as a special artistic phenomenon began to be studied only in the twentieth century, essentially only then realizing all its originality and uniqueness. And yet, many prominent antiquists still believe that the history of Roman art has not yet been written, the full complexity of its problems has not yet been revealed. In the works of the ancient Romans, unlike the Greeks, symbolism and allegory prevailed. Accordingly, the plastic images of Hellions gave way to the Romans' picturesque ones, in which the illusory nature of space and form predominated - not only in frescoes and mosaics, but also in reliefs. Statues like the Maenad of Skopas or the Nike of Samothrace were no longer created, but the Romans owned unsurpassed sculptural portraits with exceptionally accurate representation of individual facial features and character, as well as reliefs that reliably recorded historical events. Roman masters, in contrast to the Greek, who saw reality in its plastic unity, were more inclined to canalization, dismemberment of the whole into parts, and a detailed depiction of the phenomenon. The Greek saw the world as if through the poetic haze of myth that united and tied everything together. For the Roman, it began to dissipate, and phenomena were perceived in more distinct forms, which became easier to comprehend, although this also led to a loss of the sense of the integrity of the universe. In ancient Rome, sculpture was limited primarily to historical relief and portraiture, but fine arts with an illusory interpretation of volumes and forms developed - fresco, mosaic, easel painting, which were poorly widespread among the Greeks. Architecture has achieved unprecedented success both in its construction and engineering and in its ensemble expression. What was new among the Romans was their understanding of the relationship between artistic form and space. The extremely compact, concentric in essence forms of the classical Parthenon did not exclude, but, on the contrary, expressed the openness of the building to the open spaces surrounding the Acropolis. In Roman architecture, which usually amazes with its ensemble scale, preference was given to closed forms. Architects loved pseudoperipetras with a colonnade half recessed into the wall. If the ancient Greek squares were always open to space, like the Agora in Athens or other Hellenistic cities, then the Roman ones were either surrounded by high walls, like the forums of Augustus or Nerva, or were located in lowlands. An important factor that influenced the character of ancient Roman art was the enormous space of its field of action. The dynamism and constant expansion of the territorial scope of ancient Roman art with the inclusion in its sphere already in the 5th century BC. Etruscan, Italic, Gallic, Egyptian and other forms, with a special meaning of Greek, cannot be explained only by the properties of the artistic Roman potential. This is a process associated with the development of pan-European art, in which the Roman began to play a special role - the interpreter and guardian of the artistic heritage of the ancient era, while simultaneously identifying its own Roman principles. In the Roman crucible, various artistic values ​​were fused so that in the end a completely new medieval aesthetic practice, which did not exclude the traditions of antiquity, emerged. From the Pyrenees shores of the Atlantic Ocean to the eastern borders of Syria, from the British Isles to the African continent, tribes and peoples lived under the influence of artistic systems that were dictated by the capital of the empire. The close contact of Roman art with local art led to the appearance of unique monuments. The sculptural portraits of North Africa are striking in comparison with those in the capital with their expressiveness of forms, some British - with a special coldness, almost stiffness, Palmyra - with the intricate ornamentation of decorative ornaments of clothes, hats, and jewelry characteristic of oriental art. And yet, it should be noted that by the middle of the 1st millennium AD, at the end of antiquity, trends toward the convergence of various aesthetic principles , which largely determined the cultural development of the early Middle Ages. The end of Roman art can be formally and conventionally determined by the fall of the Empire. The question of the time of the emergence of Roman art is very controversial. Distribution on the territory of the Apennine Peninsula in the 1st millennium BC. highly artistic works of the Etruscans and Greeks contributed to the fact that Roman art, which was just beginning to take shape, turned out to be invisible. After all, for a long time, from the 8th to the 6th centuries. BC, Rome was a small settlement among many other Italic, Etruscan and Greek cities and settlements. However, even from this distant past, where the origins of Roman art go, brooches with Latin names, cists and such monumental bronze sculptures as the Capitoline She-wolf are preserved. Therefore, it is hardly legitimate to begin the history of the art of ancient Rome, as is sometimes done, from the 1st century. BC, without taking into account, although small in quantity, very important material, which over time, one must think, will increase. The periodization of Roman art is one of the most difficult problems of its history. In contrast to the accepted and widespread periodization of ancient Greek art, which designates the formative years as archaic, the heyday as classics, and the crisis ages as Hellenism. Historians of ancient Roman art, as a rule, associated its development only with changes in imperial dynasties. However, the change of dynasties or emperors did not always entail a change in artistic style. Therefore, it is important to determine in the development of Roman art the boundaries of its formation, prosperity and crisis, taking into account changes in artistic and stylistic forms in their connection with socio-economic, historical, religious, cult, and everyday factors. If we outline the main stages in the history of ancient Roman art, then in general terms they can be represented as follows: The most ancient (VII - V centuries BC) and Republican eras (V century BC - I century BC .) - the period of formation of Roman art. Within these broad time boundaries, the principles of Roman creativity itself were slowly formed, often in confrontation with Etruscan, Italic, and Greek influences. Due to the lack of material materials and very poor coverage of this long period in ancient sources, it is impossible to differentiate this stage in more detail. In the VIII - V centuries. BC. Roman art could not yet compete not only with the developed artistic creativity of the Etruscans and Greeks, but, obviously, with the artistic activity of the Italics, which had clearly declared itself. Roman art flourished in the 1st and 2nd centuries. AD Within this stage, the stylistic features of the monuments make it possible to distinguish: the early period - the time of Augustus, the first period - the years of the reign of the Julios - Claudius and Flavians, the second - the time of Trajan, the late period - the time of late Hadrian and the last Antonions. The times of Septimius Severus, like earlier Pompey and Caesar, should obviously be considered transitional. With the end of the reign of Septimius Severus, a crisis in Roman art began. At the same time, a scientific and aesthetic attitude towards the ancient heritage arose. I. Winckelmann, unlike the figures of the “antique” period, acted as a representative of the educational philosophy of his time, the creator of the history of ancient art. True, he still treated Roman art as a continuation of Greek art. At the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries. It was no longer private individuals who began to engage in ancient Roman art, but government institutions in Europe. Archaeological excavations were financed, large museums and scientific societies were founded, and the first scientific works on ancient Roman works of art were created. Attempts philosophical understanding the essence and specificity of ancient Roman art were made at the end of the 19th century. F. Wikhof and A. Riegl. A valuable theoretical study was also O. Brendel’s book “Introduction to the Study of the Art of Ancient Rome,” which examines various points of view on ancient Roman art from the Renaissance to the present day.

Conclusion

The art of Ancient Rome left humanity an enormous legacy, the significance of which is difficult to overestimate. The great organizer and creator of modern norms of civilized life, Ancient Rome decisively transformed the cultural appearance of a huge part of the world. For this alone he is worthy of lasting glory and the memory of his descendants. In addition, the art of Roman times left many remarkable monuments in a variety of fields, ranging from works of architecture to glass vessels. Each ancient Roman monument embodies a tradition compressed by time and taken to its logical conclusion. It carries information about faith and rituals, the meaning of life and the creative skills of the people to whom it belonged, and the place this people occupied in the grandiose empire. The Roman state is very complex. He alone had the mission of saying goodbye to the thousand-year-old world of paganism and creating those principles that formed the basis of Christian art of the New Age.

Bibliography

1. Izmailov G.V. History of the ancient worlds. Minsk. "Era". 1996. 2. History of Rome. Ed. Ivanova A.G. M. 1997. 3. Culture of the ancient world. Tutorial. 1991.

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