Roman pantheon and myth the Lives of the Caesars, from Julius Caesar to Nero, entirely extant, are his most important works Some of the more salacious scenes have earned Suetonius a reputation as a shallow tabloid reporter of antiquity, but his capacities for research and observation were formidable His habit of including, within the body of his text, source materials in their original Greek or Latin has furnished a treasure trove to posterity It is from Suetonius that Julius Caesar’s famous declaration upon crossing the Rubicon, “The die is cast,” derives Contemporary scholarship has tended to downplay the role any one person can have as an agent of historical change Yet the importance of biographers, such as Suetonius, to provide a coherent snapshot of a given historical period by emphasizing the life and importance of the individual, has endured See also Aristotle; Epicureanism; Greek mythology and pantheon; Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon; Homeric epics; Roman poetry; Rome: decline and fall Further reading: Fornara, C W The Nature of History in Ancient Greece and Rome Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983; Grant, Michael Greek and Roman Historian: Information and Misinformation London: Routledge, 1995; Laistner, M L W The Greater Roman Historians Berkeley: University of California Press, 1947; Luce, T J Livy: The Composition of His History Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1977; Marincola, John Authority and Tradition in Ancient Historiography Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997; Mellor, Ronald The Roman Historians London: Routledge, 1999 R O’Brian Carter Roman pantheon and myth Roman religious belief evolved over time Many of the well-known gods, goddesses, and heroes of Rome were adopted from other cultures and civilizations Greek mythology, with its focus on gods with humanlike characteristics, greatly influenced later Roman mythology What we know about early Roman mythology comes from archaeological findings, artwork, and writers such as Marcus Terentius Varro, Virgil, and Ovid Roman myth borrowed greatly from the Greeks, replacing Greek deities with Roman names, creating a hybrid Greco-Roman mythology Only after Rome came into contact with Greece during the sixth century b.c.e did Roman gods and goddesses assume human qualities Early Romans envisioned their deities as powers that demanded appease- 395 ment Pax deorum, or “peace of the gods,” was the ultimate goal of early Roman religious practices Romans believed that through ritual, worship, and public festivals their gods would ensure continued prosperity for the community Early Roman deities controlled aspects of everyday life Romans worshipped two classes of gods The major deities, or di indigetes, were the original gods of the Roman state Lesser gods, the di novensides, were adopted later when the need for a specific power was warranted While the personalities of the deities were unimportant to early Romans, the attributes of the gods and goddesses were important The heads of the earliest Roman pantheon were Jupiter, Mars, Quirinus, Janus, and Vesta Jupiter, the head of the gods, brought life-giving rain for the crops and provided protection to Romans engaged in military activities outside their own borders Mars was originally the god of fertility and vegetation but later became associated with activities of young men and especially war The month March was named for the Roman god Mars because of his association with spring and fertility Quirinus, the patron god of the military in times of peace, was often worshipped in conjunction with Mars Janus, associated with new beginnings, was depicted as a two-faced god who presided over all that was double-edged January takes its name from this god because the month represents a time for looking backward and also forward to the future His double-gated temple in the Forum was said to have kept its doors closed only in times of peace Consequently, the doors of the temple rarely closed Vesta, goddess of the hearth fire, held a special status in the Roman pantheon Vestal virgins, or virgins who took a 30-year vow of chastity, served as Vesta’s priestesses Vesta’s priestesses attained a larger role in Roman society than other women They were often consulted in matters of state and were entrusted with sensitive documents, such as wills and treaties After 30 years of chastity, vestal virgins could marry if they so wished Other deities represented the agrarian and warlike culture of the Romans The Lares, a purely Roman invention of house guardians, protected the fields and the home Saturn governed the sowing of seed He was celebrated in the Saturnalia Festival (December 17–23), during which masters and slaves exchanged roles Ceres protected the growth of grain, Pomona governed fruit, and Consus presided over the harvest As Rome conquered its neighbors, foreign gods and goddesses were added to the Roman pantheon Conquered peoples were encouraged to continue the worship of native gods Combined with an ever-increasing