2.  Lares: Household spirits  Penates: Storeroom protectors  Genius of the Paterfamilias  Manes: Spirits of the Dead  Vesta: the Goddess protector of the hearth, home and family  Venus: The mother of Aeneas, and thus all Romans  Jupiter: the Chief God of Heaven, leader of all gods

6. The twelve Gods of Olympus:  Jupiter = Zeus  Neptune = Poseidon  Pluto (Hades)  Hermes  Apollo  Vulcan = Hephaistos

7.  Juno = Hera  Vesta = Hestia  Venus = Aphrodite  Ceres = Demeter  Minerva = Athena  Diana = Artemis

8.  Bacchus = Dionysos  Bona Dea  Proserpina = Persephone  Aesculapius = Asklepios  Cupid = Eros  Pan  Priapus  Eileithyia

9.  By the time we have significant literature from the Romans, the fusion between Greek and Roman gods is almost complete  Thus the elaborate and ancient myths of Greek gods become the myths of the Roman pantheon too  Although form is important for the Greeks too, the Romans are obsessed with it (superstitio)  They are also preoccupied with knowing the will of the gods and the future through oracles, augurs, Etruscan haruspices and astrologers.  The entanglement of state and religion is almost as ancient as Rome (Numa: its second king), and this is why the cult of the emperor seemed only natural when he became the embodiment of the state in the imperial era.

10.  Traditional Graeco-Roman religion was much about form, ritual and community life  Thus it only had limited appeal to the emotional and spiritual needs of people in insecure times  Oriental cults with a promise of a better afterlife, and greater appeal to the emotions and fears of the believers became increasingly popular  Cybele, Isis, Mithras.

11.  Finally, Judaism and its off-shoot Christianity began to have an influence, but while Judaism was not open to outsiders, Christianity was.  Its egalitarian message of hope for a better afterlife, the acceptance of everyone regardless of rank, sex, wealth or status, and its soothing message of love and peace in a violent world quickly found large appeal.  Eventually the fanaticism of its believers won the day and from the 4 th c. AD, Christianity will displace all previous religions and dominate the empire and its offspring.