From the excavations of temples and other religious finds around Roman Britain, there appears to have been three major influences, those being Celtic, Classical and Eastern. The Celtic influence was already circulating in Britain before the Romans came to Britain. The Classical and Eastern influences were introduced by the Romans. However, these religions do not seem to have been solely worshipped, there appears to have been a combination between these religious influences quite regularly, for example, Classical and Celtic deities have been found together in Larariums.
The Roman Empire in general consisted of many pagan temples and shrines. The typical classical form of temple with a central portico seen across the empire was quite rare in Britain, with a few exceptions, such as the Temple of Claudius in Colchester. The Romano-Celtic style of temple was more common in Britain. These were designed in the shape of a simple square. The expansion of Christianity eventually led to a development of a simple structure, consisting of a rectangular hall with an apse, known as a basilica.[1]
In order to maintain a temple, a varied staff would have been needed. At the top of the hierarchy were the priests, often referred to as the sacerdotes. Some were recruited from the Curial class and served only part time, others were permanent paid officials. The tombstone of a sarcedos of Sulis Minerva has been found at Bath, he was called Gaius Calpurnius Receptus, the tria nomina proclaiming he was a citizen. Bath was an important sanctuary with a specialist group of priests. To be a priest at a large shrine was a matter of some social prestige.[2]We have some remains of metal crowns and diadems worn by priests. They suggest that on festal occasions priests appeared in the same majestic splendour that we expect of the clergy today.[3]
The temple of Sulis-Minerva has left behind an abundance of archaeological evidence. A decorative head of Minerva has been found, with rivet holes for where her helmet would have been placed. Minerva’s temple was central to the area with a sacred spring in the middle. It was a very large complex where a large collection of votive objects has been found, many made from lead and silver, as well as a whole range of cursive tablets.
One of the most popular ways of worshipping the gods was through sacrifice, upon an altar. Colchester and Bath had very elaborately decorated large altars at the front of their temples, however more remains of the Bath alter than the altar found at Colchester. The altar at Bath was made of dressed blocks with reliefs carved at the corners portraying several deities, including Hercules, Bacchus, Apollo and Jupiter, and also a water nymph. Individuals would often donate altars as votive gifts, but these were usually much smaller and cut from a single block of stone. They would usually have relief carvings, inscriptions and figural works. One of the main purposes of an altar was to offer the Gods animals that had been sacrificed as well as wine. Shallow bowls and flagons were used for ritual ablutions before sacrifice and by for pouring libations of wine and other liquids to the gods. There are lots of examples of the flagons and shallow bowls in a range of materials, including pottery, pewter, bronze and silver.[4]
The shrine itself was generally regarded as votives to the gods. Temples were also built or given by merchants and gentry, to improve their status and reputation in the community. Examples of all these are known from Britain either from archaeological remains or inscriptions. An example of temples given as gifts can be found in Chichester and York where Neptune and Minerva were worshipped. A temple at Castlesteads dedicated to the Mother Goddesses was also restored by a centurion. A dedication also remains on a screen at Bath. Another temple screen and arch have been located in London. Inscriptions from around Lincoln and York tell us of a merchant from Rouen dedicated gifts of an arch and shrine.[5]
The reason people were believed to dedicate gifts to the Gods is because it was generally thought the Gods would reward the pious, and so individuals would spend a great deal of their wealth and time building shrines and dedicating altars in the hope of gaining their Gods favour. The gifts were also made in order to strike a bargain with the Gods, however, many inscriptions describe the dedicators doing this religious act willingly and freely so as not to taint their reputations.[6]
Roman Britain is now one of the greatest regions in which to study these messages to the gods. One of the biggest sites that have been studied is Uley, in particular a room attached to the temple dedicated to mercury, where many requests to the God have been found. Another has been located at Bath, in the spring of Sulis where tablets addressing that goddess have been found. There are many similarities between these messages to the Gods; however the tablets at Uley seem to have been kept by the priests, whereas they were thrown into the sacred spring at Bath. There have also been other tablets unearthed at Lydney Park and Harlow temple sites.[7]
We have evidence to suggest it was generally believed the Gods enforce moral behaviour on people, for example, a document found at Uley contained a message to the gods asking them to punish whoever had stolen their possessions, however some cursive tablets seem to have been more concerned with conduct rather than stolen possessions. Many of the tablets contained Celtic, Greek and Latin names and so this shows different religions became unified, the Classical religion was not exclusively worshipped by Roman citizens, it is evident Celtic followers also worshipped deities from this religion, not just their own. Therefore, this suggests there must have been a unified sense of Britain being Romanised, however, not to the extent that everybody had to worship one religion, people were free to worship other deities from different religions. The temples of Britain must have helped to resolve minor conflicts through objects such as cursive tablets because the believers thought the thieves and other criminals would be dealt with by the Gods, and so on a larger scale, helped to maintain the Pax Romana in Britain up until the Christian Empire.[8]
The categorisations of different temples have often been made around the difference in architecture. Classical temples were on the whole, quite rare in Britain but these would have offered a local version of Rome’s religion. The majority of temples in Britain were Romano-Celtic temples, and these provided the old customs of the Celtic tribes. The temples of the oriental cults and Christianity, often designed with a basilica-like plan, provided the people with a new form of spiritual and religious experience.[9]
Again, there are exceptions, for example, there is a triangular shaped temple on the South-East side of Verulamium sited at an important road intersection. The temple itself had the cult image in the centre of it, as well as other rooms that may have held water. At the front of the temple was a large courtyard with an altar. The excavations of the courtyard suggests the temple must have been popular as it was much visited, many of its pits containing animal bones and several little pots that would have been offered to the Gods. The skull of an ox has been found behind the altar as a foundation deposit, which is quite unusual. A terracotta lamp cover has also been found, suggesting it may have been used to give shaded illumination to provide a mystical atmosphere often connected with the Eastern deities, however, lamp covers have also been found in Chelmsford and Godmanchester which were Romano-Celtic temples.[10]
The Walbrook valley that lies west of Roman London has shown substantial evidence of religious activity. A large number of votive pots, Venus figurines made of white clay, a leaf shaped plaque, theatre masks, and bronze letters have been found in the area. Springhead was also very similar, suggesting it to have been a religious centre rather than a town. The same can also be suggested of Bath, where the temple there can be architecturally comparable to that at Colchester, despite the functions being of a different purpose. It was used by Romanised natives and Soldiers, by Celts from the Gallic provinces, and by Greek freedmen, as well as attracting tourists who came to visit its hot springs and gaze at the different stones which were burnt on Minervas altar. The temple of Mercury at Uley seems to have been more restricted regarding the people who could visit compared to Bath, but there have still been numerous offerings that have been found. Around the temples of Britain in general you would usually find auxiliary buildings such as inns and baths that were provided for visitors, and it was not uncommon to find a priests house for the cult officials.[11]
The outstanding temple at Nettleton Shrub, Wiltshire, was octagonal shaped and dedicated to Apollo. The shrine was exceptionally remarkable in and incorporated a striking riverside pavilion, perhaps where the gods were thought to bless or heal those struck with disease. It has been suggested that the temple of Nodens at Lydney Park was probably used similarly and dedicated to a healing cult as well. Unlike Nettleton, it is located on top of a hill, and is far from a major road, however, it became just as wealthy. It also had a healing pavilion and an inn, as well as a suite of baths for visitors. The temple at Woodeaton near Oxford was also far from an urban centre, but is thought to have been strategically placed to become a prosperous part of the countryside, eventually developing into a marketplace between the tribal boundaries of the Dobunni and Catuvellauni tribes. A little pendant and a gold magical gnostic charm show that practitioners and followers of the oriental cults also came here to visit. [12] Therefore, it can be suggested commerce helped temples to develop because other facilities were provided, for example inns and baths.[13]
Religious men and women had several different Gods they could worship. Many of the votive altars donated to shrines and temples were usually made by people who lived in the local area. However, there are exceptions, for example, the temple of Sulis Minerva was definitely known of outside Roman Britain, one of the main reasons for this being its extraordinary altar fire where coal was burnt as opposed to wood. Other richly sustained temples such as Nodens at Lyndley, and Apollo at Nettleton also acquired similar reputations. Some religious men and women would seek out local sanctuaries to worship particular deities that may have brought them luck or wealth. Temples in Britain would have also held grand festivals and processions as well as sacrifices and more commonly, simple prayer and worship. Prayers would sometimes be supported by the giving of gifts to the Gods.[14]
The archaeological remains of altars and other religious artefacts show us that the people of Britain worshipped a wide range of gods and goddesses. There seems to have been no evidence that people were restricted to worshipping one single God, in fact it shows people had a large range of Gods that they chose to worship, often combining two or more different religions.[15]
Bibliography
Green. M. J, The Gods of Roman Britain, (Shire Publications: Buckinghamshire: 2003)
Petts. D, Christianity in Roman Britain, (Stroud: Tempus: 2003)
Pearce. J, Millett. M and Struck. M, Burial, Society and Context in the Roman World (Oxford: Oxbow: 2000)
Henig. M, Religion in Roman Britain, (London: Batsford: 1984)
[1] Christianity in Roman Britain pp. 54-55
[2] Religion in Roman Britain p. 135
[3] Religion in Roman Britain, p. 136
[4] Religion in Roman Britain, pp. 129-131
[5] Religion in Roman Britain, pp. 141-142
[6] Religion in Roman Britain, p. 142
[7] Religion in Roman Britain, pp. 142-143
[8] Religion in Roman Britain, pp. 144-145
[9] Religion in Roman Britain, p. 157
[10] Religion in Roman Britain, pp. 159-162
[11] Religion in Roman Britain, pp. 159-162
[12] Religion in Roman Britain, pp. 159-162
[13] Religion in Roman Britain, p. 163
[14] Religion in Roman Britain, p. 157
[15] Christianity in Roman Britain pp.6-7
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