Roman Gods, Spirits, Dieties - Ancient Rome for Kids

Honoring their gods was a big part
of ancient Roman daily life.

There were many thousands of Roman gods. The ancient Romans believed that gods lived everywhere - in trees, under a bush, by the side of the road, in a burrow, in a flower, in a stream, under the bed, and perhaps even in the stove in your house. There was even a deity who lived inside the latch that opened the door to each home.

In ancient Rome, everything had a spirit in charge of it. Remember Io, the little spirit that Jupiter turned into a little white cow? Io’s job, before her run in with the gods, was to guard the creek where she lived.

Temples: There were impressive temples all over the Roman Empire. Every day, the ancient Romans brought offerings of meat and other items to at least one nearby temple. Usually they visited more than one temple every day.

Household Gods: Each home had a personal household god that kept things running smoothly at home. Some ancient Romans kept a whole room of their house for a grand display to honor their personal household god. Others had a small display somewhere in the kitchen. Whenever the ancient Romans prepared a meal, they ate it in honor of the household god.

New Gods: Not all of the gods that the ancient Romans worshiped were originally Roman gods. The Romans did a lot of traveling as they expanded their empire. Each time the Romans heard a myth about a god or goddess or spirit or deity from the people they met (and conquered), if they liked it, they adopted it and made it their own.

When they heard about the Greek gods, they adopted nearly all of them! The Roman changed many of the Greek god names to Roman names. Zeus became Jupiter. Hera was renamed Juno. But the Romans left their personalities intact.

Roman Gods: The Romans had many gods of their own. There was a festival nearly every day for one god or another. Pax, for example, was the Roman goddess of peace. Her festival is January 3. Fornax is the Roman goddess of bread-making. Her festival is February 17. Juturna is the goddess of wells and springs. Her festival is January 11. Consus was the Roman god of good advice. He was so important that he had two festival days - August 21 and December 15, and a temple in the Circus Maximus.