Public Order and Social Control through Religion in the Roman Republic

• Main Author: Williams, Sheri
• Other Authors: Fuhrmann, Christopher J
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: University of North Texas 2020
• Subjects: Roman; Religion; Ritual; Public Order; Social Control; Execution
• Online Access: https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1703282/

Rome was among the largest cities in Europe during the Republic era, with a population that was diverse in social status and ethnicity. To maintain public order and social control of such a large, continually growing and shifting population that encompassed mixed cultures and Roman citizens, the Roman elites had to use various methods to keep the peace and maintain social stability. As religion was so deeply ingrained into every aspect of Roman life, it is worth taking a deeper look into how those in charge used it to maintain peace and relative control in Rome and its territories. Chapter 1 offers a brief look at the history of Roman religion, its terms and definitions, and the idea of social control as it pertains to this thesis. Chapter 2 shows the motivations of the Roman elite classes in their use of religion to maintain public order and enforce social control of the mass population. Couched in the need to uphold the Pax Deorum or Peace of the Gods, religious piety and order was cultivated as a means to protect the Republic from harm. Chapter 3 explains how the Patrician and Plebeian classes directed the attention of the residents of Rome with a calendar that was filled with rituals, sacrifices, festivals, and market days. In keeping a busy religious schedule, the people of Rome maintained a constant and direct relationship with the gods. Chapter 4 discusses the importance of women in the roles of priestesses and officers in religious cult to sustain the religious health and welfare of the city of Rome and the smaller communities within the city they inhabited. Chapter 5 examines the use of execution as a religious means of enforcing public order and social control. The chapter explores different means of execution and how they were placed into the realm of religion as a means to rid the populace of impurity and cultivate the piety of the Republic. Chapter 6 brings all of these elements together to show that the people of the Roman Republic believed in their gods and believed that the religious rites and practices that they maintained were instrumental in keeping the Pax Deorum. It was this belief that the ruling Patrician and Plebeian classes regulated to make sure that public and social order were upheld and preserved.