What Are Religious Beliefs In Pompeii

Religious beliefs were an important part of the Romans’ day-to-day lives. They believed in various gods and goddesses for routine aspects of their lives such as wisdom, love, beauty, and hunting. Many of these religious beliefs and deities were adopted by several cities conquered by the Romans [6] including the city of Pompeii.

As Pompeii was relatively close to Rome, its religious practices and beliefs were more associated with Rome vice wider Rome. For example, Pompeii’s religion was centered around gods and goddesses and were used to provide explanations for unusual events, both good and bad. The Pompeii residents believed these deities controlled their lives and as a result, dedicated a great deal of their time to worshipping them. [1]

Temples to worship gods were built throughout the Roman Empire, including Pompeii. Temples generally followed the same building pattern with the inside of the temple being extraordinarily decorated and at the centerpiece, a statue of a god. There would also have been augurs, who were priests or officials that interpreted the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds, which were also present in Pompeii. [1] Besides the flight of birds, some augurs used the entrails of dead animals to predict the future. The Romans and Pompeian’s took these predictions seriously and very few people ignored the advice of an augur. The Pompeian’s worshipped many gods, predominantly the Roman deity gods such as Jupiter, Juno, Minerva, and Apollo.