Topic One (1.1): Favour and Punishment

Topics Icon.png Objectives for this topic

In this first module of the second year of this course you will be looking at the way the gods were believed to have the power to affect the daily lives of men and women. You might find that there is a little more reading to do in some of these modules but it is all designed to build on the knowledge you have already gained in the first year of the course. Take it steady and think about what you are reading.

Introduction Icon.png Introduction

In Topic 1.1 you will be looking at how gods were believed to affect the daily lives of their worshippers. It was very important to keep the gods on your side, if you did not they could be cruel and petty, as we have seen. Keeping them on your side involved giving them gifts which were called sacrifices from the Latin for doing or making something sacred. If, after a sacrifice the god still did not do as he or she had been asked, then it was assumed that the sacrifice had not been pleasing and a bigger and better one was often given.

Interact Icon.png Working through your coursebook

You need to begin this topic by reading pages 106-111 in your coursebook. Here you will find subject areas divided into various sections:

  • how things happened and who did them;
  • getting a god’s favour;
  • what happened if you displeased the gods.

You might find it helpful to make some notes on some of the topics. 

Temples were important places if you wished to interact with the gods and because the Romans had so many different gods there were temples everywhere in towns and in the countryside, though the countryside temples might be more humble. In towns, temples were built to look magnificent; they were, after all, the house of the gods and gods liked to and deserved to live in style! Temples were mostly dedicated to one god but sometimes they shared a dedication, like the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill which was dedicated to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. As you found out earlier in this course, temples were magnificently decorated and very colourful.

Priests (sacerdotes) performed the ritual of the sacrifices. Priesthood in the ancient world was often a political office and both Julius Caesar and Augustus had the title pontifex maximus, chief priest. Some priests had to conform to certain rules of life, much as priests or holy men do these days. 

Sacrifices could be anything which you could afford, though the larger sacrifices involving the killing of an animal often ended up in a public feast. In Athens at the four-yearly Great Panathenaic Festival, 100 oxen a day were sacrificed for several days and after the tribute had been paid to the gods, the remaining meat would have been distributed amongst the people. See below for which parts of the animal were given to the gods and why. Poor people might give a little grain or cakes or whatever they had. For an example of how the favour of the gods could affect someone’s life, read Source 4.1 (page 112). You might be reminded of what happened to Aeneas’ son, Ascanius, in Troy when you read this story.

Punishment was feared if the gods were displeased with human behaviour. You heard about the Vestal Virgins in Rome who looked after the sacred fire of Vesta. Here you will find out what happened if one of them broke the rules by which they lived.  Curse tablets (defixiones) were ways that Romans could call down punishment on people they believed had wronged them. Read Source 4.3 (page 114) to find out more about these.

Lastly, on page 111, you will read about the Roman Underworld which was divided up into places where the good and bad would go. There are some examples of people being punished for doing wrong. Read Source 4.4 (page 114 to 115) to hear what the writer and statesman, Cicero, thought about the Underworld.

Whenever you read a source it is a good idea to look at the questions and work out how you would answer them. This makes you think more deeply about what is being said and how the passage is written to affect your emotions or understanding.

Bridge Icon.png  Support activity for this topic

Watch the following short film on how Prometheus tricked the gods about sacrifices and how he gave mankind fire to allow them to keep warm and cook. This story was first told by the poet, Hesiod, in his poem Theogony, and later by Plato in his dialogue, Protagoras.

WATCH – The Myth of Prometheus (YouTube) Links to an external site.

Have a look at the worksheet on Favour and Punishment. This will help you consolidate your knowledge of this topic. The questions are based on the material you have read on pages 106 to 111.

COMPLETE – Favour and Punishment Download COMPLETE – Favour and Punishment

Stretch Icon.png Extension activity for this topic

You might like to hear some more stories about the way the gods react to humans giving them gifts. Here is a link to a story from the Roman poet, Ovid, which shows you that big, expensive sacrifices were not always more acceptable than small ones.

LISTEN – Baucis and Philemon (classictales.co.uk) Links to an external site.

Or you could read the story:

READ – Baucis and Philemon (classictales.co.uk) Links to an external site.

Review Icon.png Review

Go back over the reading you have done, and any notes you might have made. Are you clear on what Romans believed about how to gain the favour, or avoid the punishment, of their gods? You could use the questions on page 115 to get you thinking.  How well do you think this form of religion worked for the Romans?