The Roman Debt to Greece

[Lyceum]

Let us remember that Rome had gods that were numina. My understanding is that these were the important gods that held Romans in awe. I cannot give a reference as this is based on readings from many sources over the years. I have never heard of any Greek equivalent. Also, it seems illogical to assume that Rome imported its religion from Greece. Surely the Romans had religion before they had even heard of the Greeks. More likely, in my opinion, is that over the years Rome imported some Greek gods, as for example in later years they imported Mithras.

Mithra, an important Indo-Iranian god with a very transparent name meaning "treaty" and still worshiped all over India.

For Roman religion there aren't as many good books as one would like, however must haves would be the Blackwell Guide (various authors) "Religion in the Roman Empire" by Rives and of course the introductory textbooks by Beard, North and Price.

The best way to truly get under Rome's skin (clumsy expression, forgive me) would be to examine its religion and its laws.