ABSTRACT
Like Roman civilization in general, Roman religion presents a mixture of ancient traditions obstinately maintained and borrowed elements. “The most ancient religious institu-tions,” said Cicero, “are the best, because they are the nearest to the gods.” 1 And, indeed, in Cicero’s time, and down to the end of the Empire, the calendar ascribed to Numa continued to govern the religious year of the Roman. He celebrated according to the ancient rites feasts the meaning of which was lost. He celebrated other feasts, too, and the new gods from Greece and the East had taken in the Roman Pantheon the place once held by primitive deities of whom little more than the name was known to scholars. Respect for ancient institutions had not been able to prevent religion from following the political, social, and intellectual evolution of Rome.
