Ceremonies And Ways Of Worshiping:
Romans believed that if their Gods and Goddesses were happy then Rome and the Romans would receive good fortune. To make sure the gods and goddesses were happy the Romans gave offerings. They also gave sacrifices. Though the sacrifices they made were very specific. For example the sex of the animal that was being sacrificed was very important, it had to be the same gender as the god or goddess that it was being sacrificed to. Outside all of the Roman temples many Romans sold small birds and animals for the Romans to sacrifice; this was a very good business, for Romans constantly needed animals to sacrifice. Also white animals that were being sacrificed went to the gods who were form the upper world as for the black animals, they went to the underworld.
Temples for worshiping gods and goddesses were built all over Rome. Romans did not got to temples regularly, they only went if they needed something. Though if you did got to a temple inside you could always find an augur. Augurs were people that predicted the future from the insides of dead animals. Romans took the predictions that the augurs made very seriously and very few ignored their advice. Romans believed that their wishes would only come true if they said their prayer in the right way. So while one man was reading the prayer out loud another man was making sure he was doing it the right way, and on top of that a man would play the flute, to drown out all the other noises. Romans did not have to go to a temple if they wanted to pray, for most families around Rome had their own small altar and shrine. (An altar is a table or flat-topped block used as the focus for a religious ritual, especially for making sacrifices or offerings to a god or goddess.)( A shrine is a place regarded as holy because of its associations with a sacred person or god.) Romans had their own personal household gods or spirits called 'lares' which they worshipped every day at home. They did this to keep away all evil spirits from the house so that it was their safe place. The shrine had statues of the 'lares' and the head of the household led family prayers around the shrine each day. These prayers were so important that even family slaves were invited.
When a Emperor called Augustus ruled more than 135 days of the year were spent celebrating religious festivals, and ceremonies. There were over 66 religious festivals. The most important festival was the Saturnalia festival, it took place on the 17-20 of December and it was a time of eating drinking and giving gifts. It was kind of like our Christmas. The worship of fields where three festivals, one in Spring, Summer and Winter, each one celebrating something slightly different. The spring festival was about hopes and fears for wether the crops would grow and the herding of farm animals. As for the summer festival it was for celebrating the harvest, thanking the gods that they had given them food. The winter festival was for the sowing and social rejoicing. Each of the festivals had its own god or goddess which would apparently attend the festival of the one that it was the god or goddess of. In the Crop of Harvest Ceremonies, they would prosecute a red dog, just because it was tradition that they had been doing as long as anyone could remember. Another thing they did during that festival was that they killed all pregnant cows, because the Romans believed that they made the ground more fertile, and it was a sacrifice to the gods and goddesses and a way of thanking them. The Rain Ceremony Of The Aquaelicium was very important to the Romans during a drought because the whole purpose of this ceremony was to get it to rain, so that the crops could be watered, and they had water and wouldn't die of thirst. On top of all that lots of offerings were made to the god of the sky.
Temples for worshiping gods and goddesses were built all over Rome. Romans did not got to temples regularly, they only went if they needed something. Though if you did got to a temple inside you could always find an augur. Augurs were people that predicted the future from the insides of dead animals. Romans took the predictions that the augurs made very seriously and very few ignored their advice. Romans believed that their wishes would only come true if they said their prayer in the right way. So while one man was reading the prayer out loud another man was making sure he was doing it the right way, and on top of that a man would play the flute, to drown out all the other noises. Romans did not have to go to a temple if they wanted to pray, for most families around Rome had their own small altar and shrine. (An altar is a table or flat-topped block used as the focus for a religious ritual, especially for making sacrifices or offerings to a god or goddess.)( A shrine is a place regarded as holy because of its associations with a sacred person or god.) Romans had their own personal household gods or spirits called 'lares' which they worshipped every day at home. They did this to keep away all evil spirits from the house so that it was their safe place. The shrine had statues of the 'lares' and the head of the household led family prayers around the shrine each day. These prayers were so important that even family slaves were invited.
When a Emperor called Augustus ruled more than 135 days of the year were spent celebrating religious festivals, and ceremonies. There were over 66 religious festivals. The most important festival was the Saturnalia festival, it took place on the 17-20 of December and it was a time of eating drinking and giving gifts. It was kind of like our Christmas. The worship of fields where three festivals, one in Spring, Summer and Winter, each one celebrating something slightly different. The spring festival was about hopes and fears for wether the crops would grow and the herding of farm animals. As for the summer festival it was for celebrating the harvest, thanking the gods that they had given them food. The winter festival was for the sowing and social rejoicing. Each of the festivals had its own god or goddess which would apparently attend the festival of the one that it was the god or goddess of. In the Crop of Harvest Ceremonies, they would prosecute a red dog, just because it was tradition that they had been doing as long as anyone could remember. Another thing they did during that festival was that they killed all pregnant cows, because the Romans believed that they made the ground more fertile, and it was a sacrifice to the gods and goddesses and a way of thanking them. The Rain Ceremony Of The Aquaelicium was very important to the Romans during a drought because the whole purpose of this ceremony was to get it to rain, so that the crops could be watered, and they had water and wouldn't die of thirst. On top of all that lots of offerings were made to the god of the sky.