y an agricultural
community, most of its divinities and festivals had to do with the various
phases of agricultural life. Festivals of the sowing, the harvest, the
vineyard and the like, were annually celebrated in common, at fixed
seasons, by the households of the various _pagi_.

*The state cult.* The public or state cult of Rome consisted mainly in the
performance of certain of the rites of the household and of the _pagi_ by
or for the people as a whole. The state cult of Vesta and of the Penates,
as well as the festival of the Ambarvalia, the annual solemn purification
of the fields, are of this nature. But, in addition, the state religion
included the worship of certain divinities whose personalities and powers
were conceived with greater distinctness. At the beginning of the Republic
the chief of these gods were the triad Juppiter, Juno, and Minerva.
Juppiter Optimus Maximus, called also Capitolinus from his place of
worship, was originally a god of the sky. But, adorned with various other
attributes, he was finally worshipped as the chief protecting divinity of
the Roman State. Juno was the female counterpart of Juppiter and was the
great patron goddess of women. Another important deity was Mars, at one
time an agricultural divinity, who in the state religion developed into
the god of warlike, "martial," activities.

*Foreign influences.* It was in connection with the state worship that
foreign influences were first felt. Indeed, it is probable that the
association of Juppiter with Juno and Minerva was due to contact with
Etruria. It was from the Etruscans also that the Romans derived their
knowledge of temple construction, the earliest example of which was
probably the temple of Juppiter on the Capitoline said to have been
dedicated in 508 B. C. The use of images was likewise due to Etruscan
influences, although here as in other respects Greek ideas may have been
at work. In general the Romans did not regard the gods of strange people
with hostility, but rather admitted their power and sought to conciliate
them. Thus they frequently transferred to Rome the gods of states that
they had conquered or absorbed. Other foreign divinities, too, on various
grounds were added to the circle of the divine protectors of the Roman
state.

*Religion and morality.* From the foregoing sketch it will be seen that
the Roman religion did not have profound moral and elevating influences.
Its hold upon the Roman people was chiefly