Owen K-W
Latin 3
5/23/14
The Romanization of British Religion
When the Romans started moving into Britain, many aspects of ancient British culture were changed and merged into Roman culture as Britons became citizens or Rome. According to the British Museum, following the Roman religion was necessary to prove loyalty to Rome. However, the not all of the Britons necessarily wanted to convert to another religion. The Romans, to make the foreign religions easier to understand, associated certain British deities with their own, which as a side effect made it more simple for the British people to worship their own gods but still be loyal to Rome. An example of this is the town of Bath, there the goddess Sul was worshiped. According to AQUAE SULIS, Sul was the goddess of rivers and fertility, as well as being a mother goddess. When the Romans arrived at Bath, they associated Sul with Minerva because they were both thought to have healing powers. The British religion was greatly changed by the Romans, but it kept many significant traits, such as the importance of sources of water and the number three. There were several Romano-british trios of gods and goddesses, according Rhythms of Triplism: The Triple Figures of Romano-Celtic Sculpture. While the Romans generally had no problems with British religion, they had very serious conflicts with the druids, who the Romans were afraid would contest their leadership. Several laws were passed prohibiting their religious rituals, and emperor Augustus did not allow people to be both Roman citizens and druids at once.
As the Romans moved in to Britain, their culture became mixed with the culture of the British. Many British gods were similar enough to one of the Roman gods that the two were blended into one. Rome's religion was somewhat flexible, making it simpler for Rome to take over areas with different deities. However, when a religious group proved to be a threat, Rome did not hesitate to take it down.
Bibliography
http://www.unc.edu/celtic/catalogue/triplism/
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