The Roman Empire
E-Learning Videos
1. WHAT WERE AUGUSTUS CAESAR'S ACHIEVEMENTS? During Augustus Caesar's reign, he paved the way for a period of 200 years of Roman peace, or "Pax Romana". He helped the Roman empire reach its peak. Upon becoming emperor in 27 B.C.E., he set out to provide security and keep it safe, so he built a professional army of about 50,000 men to protect Rome. He also created a “Praetorian Guard” filled of 9,000 of the best, elite soldiers that guarded the Emperor. This guard later became very influential in Roman politics. He helped Rome conquer and gain new territory and added vast stretches of Northern Europe and all of Spain and Gaul to the Roman Empire. Augustus rebuilds Rome with stately palaces, fountains, and public buildings. The arts began to flourish. He imported grain from Africa to feed the poor because he believed that a well-fed population would less likely cause trouble. He also greatly improved Rome’s government. Because more than 50 million people lived in the Roman Empire, he appointed proconsuls to help him rule. These proconsuls were like our modern-day governors for each of Rome’s provinces. He also reformed the Roman tax system and made them more fair. He stopped tax collectors from hiding and stealing hard-working people’s taxes by giving them a salary. Augustus also created a fairer legal system by creating a set of laws for non-citizens. After this, many non-citizens started becoming Roman citizens. Then, the laws of Rome applied to everyone.
2. WHO CAME AFTER AUGUSTUS? After ruling for almost 40 years, Augustus dies in the year 14. No one knew how to appoint the next emperor, but Augustus had been training some of his relatives. The four relatives that ended up as emperor were Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, and Cladius. Tiberius and Cladius were good emperors. However, Caligula and Nero were very cruel to the Roman people. So after Tiberius’s reign, Caligula was appointed onto the throne. Caligula was mentally ill and had many people murdered. He often foolishly wasted money and even gave his favorite horse the position of consul. The Praetorian Guard eventually killed him, then put Cladius on the throne. Nero cruelly killed his mother and 2 of his wives and according to legend, he fiddled while Rome burned in the year 64. Most of Rome was wood, so that fire was very dangerous. Nero later ended up killing himself.
3. WHAT EMPERORS WERE CONSIDERED GOOD EMPERORS? The best Roman emperors were Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, & Marcus Aurelius. Their reigns covered a period of about 100 years, year 96 to 108, where Roman was a place of prosperity. During this time, agriculture and trade flourished and the standard of living kept going up. Also, the emperor began to overshadow the senate. The senate became weaker and weaker and eventually started to fully wither away. One good thing about these emperors is that they did not abuse their power and they were not cruel, tyrant-like emperors, like some Roman rulers were. Instead, they improved Roman lives in many ways. They trained powerful armies for protection, made sure the poor had enough money to feed themselves and their children, made the Roman law easier to understand and apply to citizens daily lives, and passed laws to help orphans. Another very impactful thing these emperors did was they supported public building projects that made life easier such as arches, monuments, roads, harbors, bridges, and the most vital of all, aqueducts. These were systems that ran water from the Mediterranean Sea to the Roman Empire and it made getting clean water to this huge empire a whole lot easier and more efficient.
4. WHAT UNIFIED THE EMPIRE? During Trajan’s rule, the Roman Empire had grown to be one of the largest empires in the world. It went up into Britain, well beyond the Mediterranean Sea, into part of Mesopotamia, and into the east. Trajan soon realized the empire had grown way too big to rule. Hadrian began to pull back and removed troops from most of Mesopotamia & in Europe. That is what brought upon the idea to build Hadrian’s wall that you can still go look at across England today. In the 100’s, the Roman Empire was one of the greatest and largest empires of its time, being made up 3.5 million square miles. Everyone spoke a different language, but Latin & Greek dominated. Everyone had different local customs. What unified them, though, was Roman laws and rules. Roman culture had been carried into every province by the soldiers and governors. At this time, the Roman government was very generous and granted many non-citizens citizenship. In the year 212, every single free person was made a Roman citizen.
5. WHY WAS THE EMPIRE'S ECONOMY BOOMING? Most people in the Roman Empire were farmers and they mostly made a living off of the land. There were lots of small farms scattered all over Northern Italy. Southern and Central Italy were filled with large farms that were worked by enslaved people. Farmers produced grapes, wine, olive oil, and olives in plentiful amounts. In Egypt, the chief crop was grain, which was produced in large amounts. All of these crops kept Rome’s people well-fed. Agriculture pretty much ran Rome. Potters, weavers, and jewelry makers sold their goods (such as glass, bronze, and brass) in big cities, which also contributed to a booming economy. Traders came from all over the Eastern world to huge, lively ports such as Puteoli, Ostia, and the Bay of Naples in Italy to purchase these goods. Other things were traded with the Romans such as British tin, Spanish lead, Chinese silk, and Gaul iron.
6. WHY WERE ROADS AND MONEY IMPORTANT? A good transportation network was vital to the empire’s trade’s success. During the Pax Romana, Rome’s system of roads reached a total distance of 50,000 miles. On the seas, the Roman navy helped to rid the Mediterranean Sea of pirates so that goods could be shipped more safely to and from Rome’s ports. Roman’s currency also benefited it’s trade because Roman coins were accepted throughout the Mediterranean region by the year 100. Merchants could use the same money in Gaul and in Greece and they could in Italy. The Romans also created a standard system of weights and measures that depicted how much certain things would cost. This made things more efficient for people to price their goods, trade, and ship their goods all over the Empire.
7. WHAT INEQUALITY REMAINED? In the Roman Empire, it’s prosperity did not reach all of its people. Shopkeepers, merchants, and skilled workers benefited from the Empire’s trade and lived in luxury. However, most city-dwelling people that came from the small farms remained very poor. Many also remained slaves.
8. WHAT WAS ROMAN CULTURE LIKE? The Romans studied the Greek statues, their building structures, and their general ideas. Therefore, a lot of Greece’s culture, altered to suit Rome’s style, is what made up a lot of Rome’s culture. So Rome and Greece had a lot of similarities. But at the same time, they were very different. Rome was choosy with their words, but Greece liked to talk and discuss their ideas. Roman was more focused on improving Romans’ daily lives and solving cultural problems.
9. WHAT WAS ROMAN ART LIKE? The Romans admired Greek art and architecture, but also made their statues very different from the Greeks’. The people in Greek statues were portrayed as young, healthy, people with beautiful bodies. The people in the Roman statues were shown more realistically with wrinkles, warts, and other less attractive features. In building, Romans turned to the Greek’s architecture for ideas and added things to their building styles like columns, porches, and rows. But they also created their own styles including arches and domes. Arches supported bridges, aqueducts, and various buildings. Vaulted ceilings were also very popular in Roman culture. These were made by creating rows of arches that made a vault-shaped ceiling. The Romans were also the first people to invent and use hard-as-rock concrete. This invention made Roman architecture much faster, good-looking, and easier. Some of these concrete buildings were so well-built that you can still see or use them today. Another famous artistic building that Rome is known for is the huge Colosseum. It is a huge arena that could seat more than 60,000 people. Another famous building is called the Pantheon. The Pantheon was a temple built to honor Rome’s gods. had a domed roof largest at its time.
10. WHAT WAS ROMAN LITERATURE LIKE? Roman authors based much of their writings on Greek works. For example, the Roman author Virgil drew some of his ideas from Homer’s “Odysseys”. Virgil wrote an epic poem called the “Aeneid” that describes the adventures of a Trojan prince and how he came to Italy. Another Greek-inspired work of a Roman author was “Satires” by Horace. These “satires” poked fun at human weaknesses. Horace also proposed “odes” that expressed strong emotion about life. The Roman writer Ovid wrote works that were based on Greek myths. The Roman author Catulus also wrote dramatic Greek-inspired poems about love, envy, and sadness. Rome, like the Greeks, recorded the events of their civilization. One of the best and most famous historians was called Livy, who wrote about the history of Rome in about 10 BCE, describing Rome’s rise to power. Livy celebrated Rome’s greatness and thought history could teach everyone very valuable lessons. On the contrary, another historian named Tacitus believed that Roman emperors had taken people’s freedoms and Romans were losing the values that made them strong. Roman plays were often based on Greek comedies and tragedies. Roman playwrights such as the tragedy writer Seneca and the comedy writers Plautus and Terence wrote plays for religious festivals, in which humorous plays were favorited by the Romans. Of all of the languages spoken by the Romans, Latin had the biggest impact on future generations. Latin was Europe’s language for government, trade, and learning until about 1,500 AD. Latin was the basis for many modern European languages and words/phrases that we say/speak today.
11. WHAT WAS ROMAN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING LIKE? A Greek doctor named Galen brought many medical ideas to Rome, such as anatomy. Roman doctors studied Galen's drawings and research for more than 1,500 years. Ptolemy lived in Alexandria and studied the sky and mapped stars and their movements. He placed the Earth at the center of the universe and was a very respected scientist. Roman engineers built well-built astonishing systems of roads and bridges that connected the entire empire. Some of these systems have survived 2,000 years later, today. They also used advanced engineering to supply their cities with fresh water by building aqueducts that were used to bring water from the hills and mountains from around the cities. They were long troughs supported by rows of arches that carried water for very long distances. 11 great aqueducts carried the water that Romans used in their bath houses, homes, fountains, and public bathrooms. Roman cities also had sewers to get rid of all of the waste in the cities.
12. WHAT WAS ROMAN DAILY LIFE LIKE? Rome is one of the largest cities in the ancient world. Over a million people lived there. It was carefully planned out to be a square, with the main roads crossing at right angles. At the center was the forum, or a public square/marketplace, with temples, the rich's large, luxurious homes, and other various buildings built around it. The rich sometimes had villas on their country estates, with an atrium, or large garden-type inner courtyard in the center of their homes. The city of Rome was large, crowded, noisy, and dirty, with garbage on the streets that had been tossed there. Thief's prowled the streets at night. Most people in Rome, however, were very poor, so they lived in high-rent, poorly-built, collapsing-prone, very flammable 6-story apartment buildings made of stone and wood, with typically one family in one room. To keep the Roman people happy, Roman leaders provided "free bread and circuses", or free grain and shows to watch things like chariot races & gladiator contests. These shows were very popular among ALL Roman citizens. Most gladiators were, strangely, greatly-admired criminals, poor people, or enslaved people.
13. WHAT WAS ROMAN FAMILY LIFE LIKE? Family life was very important to Rome. Most Roman families were very large, not only including parents and children, but married children, their extended families, and the enslaved servants. The father was the head of the household, which was called "paterfamilias", or "father of the family". He could severely punish children if they disobeyed. In most cases, he would arrange their marriages and made sure they were educated by hiring tutors that would teach their children at home. But in the cases of poor Romans, parents could not afford to send their children to school. Older boys would go to school to learn the basics: reading, writing, and rhetoric. Older girls did not go to school, instead, they studied reading and writing at their house. They also learned household duties. Now for a Roman boy, during the ages of 14 and 16, celebrated becoming a man by burning all of his toys as offerings to the household gods, then put on a toga. Now, he could join his family's business, become a soldier, or begin a career of his own. But, Roman women did not become adults until they were married. They usually wore a long, flowy robe with a cloak called a palla.
14. WHAT WAS IT LIKE BEING A WOMAN IN ROME? Women in early Rome had some rights, but were not full Roman citizens. The "paterfamilias" of the family looked after his wife. However, he often sought her advice privately, so women actually did had a strong influence on their families. Some emperor's wives became well-known themselves. Augustus Caesar's wife, Livia, was later honored as a goddess. Wealthy women had more independence. They could own land and business and sell properties. They could manage the household and have slaves. Because of this, they had more time to study art and fashion. They were permitted to go to the theatre and amphitheater, but they had to sit separately from the men. Now on the contrary, the women that had less money had less freedom. These women spent more time doing housework and helping their husbands run the shops. They were permitted to leave home to shop, visit friends, worship at the temples, and go to the baths, but they could even could serve as priests, hairdressers, even doctors.
15. HOW DID ROMANS TREAT ENSLAVED PEOPLE? Slavery was apart of Roman's lives from the early times. The use of slaves grew as Rome took over more territory because of war prisoners. By 100 BCE, about 40% of the people residing in Italy were all slaves! Enslaved people worked in homes, workshops, fields, and mines. They helped build aqueducts and bridges. Most slaves were Greek and well-educated. Some slaves could earn wages and buy their freedom by working as teachers, artisans, and doctors. But for other slaves, life was miserable. They were punished severely for poor work or for running away/rebelling. In 73 BCE, a slave revolt broke out in Italy, led by Spartacus. 70,000 slaves defeated 7 Roman armies. The revolt was finally crushed after 2 years. When it ended, Spartacus and 6,000 of the slaves were crucified.
16. WHAT WAS ROMAN RELIGION LIKE? The ancient Romans worshipped many gods and goddesses. They also believed that spirits lived inside things like trees and rivers. Greek gods were popular in Rome, although, they were given Roman names. For example, the Greek god "Zeus" is called "Jupiter" in Roman religion. Roman emperors were also worshipped. The gods/goddesses were honored by praying and being offered food. There were altars dedicated to these gods in each Roman home. Government officials carried out rituals to honor the important gods of Rome in famous temples. Some priests studied the insides of animals and watched the flight of birds to look for messages/signs/meanings from the gods. As the empire grew larger, the Romans were exposed to other religions. These other religions were allowed, as long as they didn't threaten the Roman government. The religions that did faced severe hardships. The most important religion to come from Rome is Christianity.
2. WHO CAME AFTER AUGUSTUS? After ruling for almost 40 years, Augustus dies in the year 14. No one knew how to appoint the next emperor, but Augustus had been training some of his relatives. The four relatives that ended up as emperor were Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, and Cladius. Tiberius and Cladius were good emperors. However, Caligula and Nero were very cruel to the Roman people. So after Tiberius’s reign, Caligula was appointed onto the throne. Caligula was mentally ill and had many people murdered. He often foolishly wasted money and even gave his favorite horse the position of consul. The Praetorian Guard eventually killed him, then put Cladius on the throne. Nero cruelly killed his mother and 2 of his wives and according to legend, he fiddled while Rome burned in the year 64. Most of Rome was wood, so that fire was very dangerous. Nero later ended up killing himself.
3. WHAT EMPERORS WERE CONSIDERED GOOD EMPERORS? The best Roman emperors were Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, & Marcus Aurelius. Their reigns covered a period of about 100 years, year 96 to 108, where Roman was a place of prosperity. During this time, agriculture and trade flourished and the standard of living kept going up. Also, the emperor began to overshadow the senate. The senate became weaker and weaker and eventually started to fully wither away. One good thing about these emperors is that they did not abuse their power and they were not cruel, tyrant-like emperors, like some Roman rulers were. Instead, they improved Roman lives in many ways. They trained powerful armies for protection, made sure the poor had enough money to feed themselves and their children, made the Roman law easier to understand and apply to citizens daily lives, and passed laws to help orphans. Another very impactful thing these emperors did was they supported public building projects that made life easier such as arches, monuments, roads, harbors, bridges, and the most vital of all, aqueducts. These were systems that ran water from the Mediterranean Sea to the Roman Empire and it made getting clean water to this huge empire a whole lot easier and more efficient.
4. WHAT UNIFIED THE EMPIRE? During Trajan’s rule, the Roman Empire had grown to be one of the largest empires in the world. It went up into Britain, well beyond the Mediterranean Sea, into part of Mesopotamia, and into the east. Trajan soon realized the empire had grown way too big to rule. Hadrian began to pull back and removed troops from most of Mesopotamia & in Europe. That is what brought upon the idea to build Hadrian’s wall that you can still go look at across England today. In the 100’s, the Roman Empire was one of the greatest and largest empires of its time, being made up 3.5 million square miles. Everyone spoke a different language, but Latin & Greek dominated. Everyone had different local customs. What unified them, though, was Roman laws and rules. Roman culture had been carried into every province by the soldiers and governors. At this time, the Roman government was very generous and granted many non-citizens citizenship. In the year 212, every single free person was made a Roman citizen.
5. WHY WAS THE EMPIRE'S ECONOMY BOOMING? Most people in the Roman Empire were farmers and they mostly made a living off of the land. There were lots of small farms scattered all over Northern Italy. Southern and Central Italy were filled with large farms that were worked by enslaved people. Farmers produced grapes, wine, olive oil, and olives in plentiful amounts. In Egypt, the chief crop was grain, which was produced in large amounts. All of these crops kept Rome’s people well-fed. Agriculture pretty much ran Rome. Potters, weavers, and jewelry makers sold their goods (such as glass, bronze, and brass) in big cities, which also contributed to a booming economy. Traders came from all over the Eastern world to huge, lively ports such as Puteoli, Ostia, and the Bay of Naples in Italy to purchase these goods. Other things were traded with the Romans such as British tin, Spanish lead, Chinese silk, and Gaul iron.
6. WHY WERE ROADS AND MONEY IMPORTANT? A good transportation network was vital to the empire’s trade’s success. During the Pax Romana, Rome’s system of roads reached a total distance of 50,000 miles. On the seas, the Roman navy helped to rid the Mediterranean Sea of pirates so that goods could be shipped more safely to and from Rome’s ports. Roman’s currency also benefited it’s trade because Roman coins were accepted throughout the Mediterranean region by the year 100. Merchants could use the same money in Gaul and in Greece and they could in Italy. The Romans also created a standard system of weights and measures that depicted how much certain things would cost. This made things more efficient for people to price their goods, trade, and ship their goods all over the Empire.
7. WHAT INEQUALITY REMAINED? In the Roman Empire, it’s prosperity did not reach all of its people. Shopkeepers, merchants, and skilled workers benefited from the Empire’s trade and lived in luxury. However, most city-dwelling people that came from the small farms remained very poor. Many also remained slaves.
8. WHAT WAS ROMAN CULTURE LIKE? The Romans studied the Greek statues, their building structures, and their general ideas. Therefore, a lot of Greece’s culture, altered to suit Rome’s style, is what made up a lot of Rome’s culture. So Rome and Greece had a lot of similarities. But at the same time, they were very different. Rome was choosy with their words, but Greece liked to talk and discuss their ideas. Roman was more focused on improving Romans’ daily lives and solving cultural problems.
9. WHAT WAS ROMAN ART LIKE? The Romans admired Greek art and architecture, but also made their statues very different from the Greeks’. The people in Greek statues were portrayed as young, healthy, people with beautiful bodies. The people in the Roman statues were shown more realistically with wrinkles, warts, and other less attractive features. In building, Romans turned to the Greek’s architecture for ideas and added things to their building styles like columns, porches, and rows. But they also created their own styles including arches and domes. Arches supported bridges, aqueducts, and various buildings. Vaulted ceilings were also very popular in Roman culture. These were made by creating rows of arches that made a vault-shaped ceiling. The Romans were also the first people to invent and use hard-as-rock concrete. This invention made Roman architecture much faster, good-looking, and easier. Some of these concrete buildings were so well-built that you can still see or use them today. Another famous artistic building that Rome is known for is the huge Colosseum. It is a huge arena that could seat more than 60,000 people. Another famous building is called the Pantheon. The Pantheon was a temple built to honor Rome’s gods. had a domed roof largest at its time.
10. WHAT WAS ROMAN LITERATURE LIKE? Roman authors based much of their writings on Greek works. For example, the Roman author Virgil drew some of his ideas from Homer’s “Odysseys”. Virgil wrote an epic poem called the “Aeneid” that describes the adventures of a Trojan prince and how he came to Italy. Another Greek-inspired work of a Roman author was “Satires” by Horace. These “satires” poked fun at human weaknesses. Horace also proposed “odes” that expressed strong emotion about life. The Roman writer Ovid wrote works that were based on Greek myths. The Roman author Catulus also wrote dramatic Greek-inspired poems about love, envy, and sadness. Rome, like the Greeks, recorded the events of their civilization. One of the best and most famous historians was called Livy, who wrote about the history of Rome in about 10 BCE, describing Rome’s rise to power. Livy celebrated Rome’s greatness and thought history could teach everyone very valuable lessons. On the contrary, another historian named Tacitus believed that Roman emperors had taken people’s freedoms and Romans were losing the values that made them strong. Roman plays were often based on Greek comedies and tragedies. Roman playwrights such as the tragedy writer Seneca and the comedy writers Plautus and Terence wrote plays for religious festivals, in which humorous plays were favorited by the Romans. Of all of the languages spoken by the Romans, Latin had the biggest impact on future generations. Latin was Europe’s language for government, trade, and learning until about 1,500 AD. Latin was the basis for many modern European languages and words/phrases that we say/speak today.
11. WHAT WAS ROMAN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING LIKE? A Greek doctor named Galen brought many medical ideas to Rome, such as anatomy. Roman doctors studied Galen's drawings and research for more than 1,500 years. Ptolemy lived in Alexandria and studied the sky and mapped stars and their movements. He placed the Earth at the center of the universe and was a very respected scientist. Roman engineers built well-built astonishing systems of roads and bridges that connected the entire empire. Some of these systems have survived 2,000 years later, today. They also used advanced engineering to supply their cities with fresh water by building aqueducts that were used to bring water from the hills and mountains from around the cities. They were long troughs supported by rows of arches that carried water for very long distances. 11 great aqueducts carried the water that Romans used in their bath houses, homes, fountains, and public bathrooms. Roman cities also had sewers to get rid of all of the waste in the cities.
12. WHAT WAS ROMAN DAILY LIFE LIKE? Rome is one of the largest cities in the ancient world. Over a million people lived there. It was carefully planned out to be a square, with the main roads crossing at right angles. At the center was the forum, or a public square/marketplace, with temples, the rich's large, luxurious homes, and other various buildings built around it. The rich sometimes had villas on their country estates, with an atrium, or large garden-type inner courtyard in the center of their homes. The city of Rome was large, crowded, noisy, and dirty, with garbage on the streets that had been tossed there. Thief's prowled the streets at night. Most people in Rome, however, were very poor, so they lived in high-rent, poorly-built, collapsing-prone, very flammable 6-story apartment buildings made of stone and wood, with typically one family in one room. To keep the Roman people happy, Roman leaders provided "free bread and circuses", or free grain and shows to watch things like chariot races & gladiator contests. These shows were very popular among ALL Roman citizens. Most gladiators were, strangely, greatly-admired criminals, poor people, or enslaved people.
13. WHAT WAS ROMAN FAMILY LIFE LIKE? Family life was very important to Rome. Most Roman families were very large, not only including parents and children, but married children, their extended families, and the enslaved servants. The father was the head of the household, which was called "paterfamilias", or "father of the family". He could severely punish children if they disobeyed. In most cases, he would arrange their marriages and made sure they were educated by hiring tutors that would teach their children at home. But in the cases of poor Romans, parents could not afford to send their children to school. Older boys would go to school to learn the basics: reading, writing, and rhetoric. Older girls did not go to school, instead, they studied reading and writing at their house. They also learned household duties. Now for a Roman boy, during the ages of 14 and 16, celebrated becoming a man by burning all of his toys as offerings to the household gods, then put on a toga. Now, he could join his family's business, become a soldier, or begin a career of his own. But, Roman women did not become adults until they were married. They usually wore a long, flowy robe with a cloak called a palla.
14. WHAT WAS IT LIKE BEING A WOMAN IN ROME? Women in early Rome had some rights, but were not full Roman citizens. The "paterfamilias" of the family looked after his wife. However, he often sought her advice privately, so women actually did had a strong influence on their families. Some emperor's wives became well-known themselves. Augustus Caesar's wife, Livia, was later honored as a goddess. Wealthy women had more independence. They could own land and business and sell properties. They could manage the household and have slaves. Because of this, they had more time to study art and fashion. They were permitted to go to the theatre and amphitheater, but they had to sit separately from the men. Now on the contrary, the women that had less money had less freedom. These women spent more time doing housework and helping their husbands run the shops. They were permitted to leave home to shop, visit friends, worship at the temples, and go to the baths, but they could even could serve as priests, hairdressers, even doctors.
15. HOW DID ROMANS TREAT ENSLAVED PEOPLE? Slavery was apart of Roman's lives from the early times. The use of slaves grew as Rome took over more territory because of war prisoners. By 100 BCE, about 40% of the people residing in Italy were all slaves! Enslaved people worked in homes, workshops, fields, and mines. They helped build aqueducts and bridges. Most slaves were Greek and well-educated. Some slaves could earn wages and buy their freedom by working as teachers, artisans, and doctors. But for other slaves, life was miserable. They were punished severely for poor work or for running away/rebelling. In 73 BCE, a slave revolt broke out in Italy, led by Spartacus. 70,000 slaves defeated 7 Roman armies. The revolt was finally crushed after 2 years. When it ended, Spartacus and 6,000 of the slaves were crucified.
16. WHAT WAS ROMAN RELIGION LIKE? The ancient Romans worshipped many gods and goddesses. They also believed that spirits lived inside things like trees and rivers. Greek gods were popular in Rome, although, they were given Roman names. For example, the Greek god "Zeus" is called "Jupiter" in Roman religion. Roman emperors were also worshipped. The gods/goddesses were honored by praying and being offered food. There were altars dedicated to these gods in each Roman home. Government officials carried out rituals to honor the important gods of Rome in famous temples. Some priests studied the insides of animals and watched the flight of birds to look for messages/signs/meanings from the gods. As the empire grew larger, the Romans were exposed to other religions. These other religions were allowed, as long as they didn't threaten the Roman government. The religions that did faced severe hardships. The most important religion to come from Rome is Christianity.