【by Maria Korman】

In the 6th century BCE, Rome was not yet the great republic it would one day become. In
those days, it was closer to being a small village than a unified civilization of people. In
considering the attitudes and beliefs of the Roman people, it is important to understand the kind
of people they were as well as their backgrounds and motivations. Romulus, in an effort to grow
Rome’s population, invited the lowest rabble of Italy into Rome (Livy 16). Thus, it is
unsurprising that by the time Numa Pompilius came to the throne, the predominant concern in
Rome was conquest and war. The hardened men of Rome cared little for religion unless it
benefited them, and instead preoccupied themselves with military matters. Romulus, directly
preceding Numa Pompilius on the throne, had used brute force to carve out a place for Rome. In
a climate of violence and warfare, surrounded by enemies and civilizations that were also trying
to secure a place, this was the only way to progress and grow. When Numa came to the throne,
he was appalled by the warlike, hostile attitudes of his people (Livy 29). In a time of instability
and violence, Numa Pompilius brought the world of religion into sharp focus, and his reforms
(regarding the priesthoods and the structure of religion) laid the foundations for Rome’s ascent to
greatness as a civilization.

Numa had several motivators in mind when working to reform Roman religion, not the
least of which was political. Instead of using force to command respect, as had been the tactic of
his predecessors, he believed that the key to earning other civilizations’ respect was to become
worthy of it in their eyes. This belief was evident in his early conduct of foreign policy. Roman
historian Livy writes that Numa “won over the minds of all the neighboring peoples with
alliances and treaties” (Livy 30). Clearly, then, Numa thought the way forward was through
peace. Livy goes on to say that Numa’s intent was to give Rome a “foundation in justice, law,
and proper observances” (Livy 29.) The problem in doing so, however, was that the people of
Rome would not be receptive to these things. Livy writes that at the time of Numa’s reign, the
“populace was unskilled and, for those days, primitive” (Livy 30). These were, as Livy calls
them, men whose “minds had been brutalized” by war, who needed their “warlike spirit …
softened” (Livy 29). Religion, in Numa’s mind, was a pacifying force that would unify Romans
and make them more civil. And in time, neighboring civilizations that had considered Rome “no
city but … a menace to the general peace” began to revere Rome for its preoccupation with holy
things and the worship of gods, and were less inclined to “injure a nation so wholly bent upon
the worship of the gods” (Livy 33). In this way, Numa’s redirection of Roman society had
political ramifications as well as social, and his efforts gradually transformed Rome from a band
of barbarians into a thriving civilization whose culture was worthy of respect.

Numa also worried that his people would become lazy when the constant threat of war
went away. Without military discipline and “fear of the enemy” to keep their spirits in check, he
believed they would “become soft from idleness” (Livy 30). Thus, religion was a way to guide
their minds and spirits towards becoming fruitful, productive citizens. Numa worked to instill in
his citizens “a fear of the gods” because he believed this was the way to achieving a civilized
society (Livy 30). Numa wanted them to be good citizens not out of fear “of punishment under
the law”, but rather because they had “regard for good faith and oaths” (Livy 33). This was an
incredibly smart tactic, because the law does not always deter citizens from crime. People tend to
be stealthy and evasive. However, if citizens are guided by an internal compass, a sense of right
and wrong, they will be less likely to commit crimes. Numa believed (and rightly so) that
religion would be this guiding force keeping his people obedient.

Numa is famous for his construction of the Temple of Janus. This is one of the most
prominent religious works of his reign, and a testament to the values of peace he instilled in
Roman society. Historians get most of their knowledge about the temple’s features from
engravings on coins and medals because no archeological remains of the temple exist (“The
Temple of Janus” 1). The evidence suggests a rectangular-shaped building with two arched doors
facing each other, “flanked by two columns” (“Temple” 1). The doors of this temple were
opened when Rome was at war and remained closed in peacetime. Enormous and quite ornate,
these doors were a physical testament to Numa’s principles of peace and religion. He unified
both ideas in one structure, and let it serve as a visual and physical reminder. The temple was
supposedly located between the Forum Romanum and Forum Julium, on the street of Argiletum
(“Temple” 1). The temple’s walls and sides were built from ashlar blocks, a kind of brick
alternative, with decorative grating on top of the temple. Decorating this construction were two
friezes—one of vines and another with palmettes (“Temple” 1). The temple housed a statue of
the god Janus, and according to Ovid, this statue held a key in one hand and a staff in the other
(“Temple” 1). This is consistent with the god’s symbolic purpose as the god of doorways and
arches, and with his authority over the temple. The statue is two-faced and the faces see in both
directions, a reminder of the gods’ all-seeing nature. Numa clearly intended for his citizens to
behold this temple and ponder upon its symbolic meanings. He wanted them to become more
pious and to fear the gods, and the temple was one step among many to achieve this goal.

Rome essentially had no official, state-sanctioned religious institutions before Numa’s
reforms. In fact, Numa is credited with “more or less single-handedly” establishing “the structure
of official Roman religion” (Beard 3). One of Numa’s first changes was establishing priesthoods
to “perform or oversee major rituals”. More specifically, he appointed vestal virgins—virgin
women whose duty was to keep the flame going on the Forum’s “sacred hearth” and to be in
eternal worship of the goddess Vesta (Beard 104). He chose a priest, called the Flamen Dialis, to
be in charge of worship, and “distinguished this priest with special dress and a regal curule
chair” (Livy 31). He also appointed two other flamens to be in charge of the worship of Mars and
Quirinus (Livy 31). These priests, or pontiffs, oversaw sacred rites and sacrifices, and were
central figures in temple worship. And even to this day, we see echoes of Numa in the Catholic
religion: Catholic popes are called pontifex, derived “from the title of one of the priesthoods …
founded by Numa” (Beard 101). The title pontifex maximus is essentially Latin for “supreme or
high priest” and signifies the highest possible rank, and therefore the ultimate religious authority.
Numa held his people accountable by establishing these figures of religious authority. He
realized he would need to diffuse authority on a smaller scale, because he could not personally
oversee everything. Numa’s changes laid the groundwork for Roman religion for centuries to
come. Romans continued to use his structures, institutions, and names until the very fall of the
Roman empire. The practice of appointing vestal virgins, for instance, to pay tribute to the gods,
was around until at least the third century AD (Encyclopedia Britannica 24).

In conjunction with these reforms, Numa also created a 12-month calendar, which was
crucial in formalizing religious holidays and providing structure. Mary Beard writes that a vital
aspect of an organized civilization is “its ability to structure time” (Beard 104). Calendars before
Numa’s time were simpler and not based on the 12-month lunar cycle. The predecessors of
Numa’s Rome were likely too busy with conquest and survival to give thought to any sort of
time-keeping. Numa’s calendar went on to serve as “the basis of the Republican calendar”
(Meisner 9). And in fact, the Western calendar we use today directly descends from the Roman
calendar, because we use the Roman month names and a cycle of 12 (Beard 104). Records and
time-keeping allow for growth and progress, and Numa’s creation of the calendar did exactly
that. Having an official “annual roster of festivals, holy days, and holidays” encouraged people
to visit the temple and to observe religious practices (Beard 104).

Numa was well-aware that the Romans would not trust his authority unless he led by
example. Superstition and augury had been influential ever since the omen of the 12 vultures at
the founding of Rome. And so, taking inspiration from Romulus who had taken the throne by
augury, Numa consulted the gods before becoming king (Livy 29). During his inauguration, he
underwent a ceremony in which he received the blessings and guidance of Jupiter (Livy 29). The
people were more likely to trust his authority if he claimed it came directly from the gods. Thus,
that was exactly what Numa led them to believe in. He claimed that he was having nightly
meetings with the goddess Egeria and following her advice and instructions in establishing rites
and priests (Livy 30). This was a clever tactic to secure religious authority, on the grounds of
which Numa would completely transform Roman religion. Livy writes that Numa’s subjects
modeled “themselves on the character of the king as their unique example” (Livy 33). Clearly,
Numa was successful in his methods. He created an almost god-like image for himself and acted
as a high priest. It was from him that all the flamens and vestal virgins and overseers derived
their authority. And it was because of this that he was able to create such drastic changes in
Roman religion.

There can be no organized religion without an organizational structure. Before Numa, the
gods were a somewhat vague and undefined idea. There certainly was worship, and temples, but
there was no large-scale, unified codex of religion. And through this religion, Numa tamed the
warlike temperaments of his people. He marked a transition from Rome as a small and struggling
village to Rome as a developing civilization. In fact, Philosopher Rousseau writes that those
“who have seen Numa only as the instituter of rites and religious ceremonies have badly
misjudged this great man” (Rousseau 4). Rousseau goes on to call Numa the “true founder of
Rome” (Rousseau 4), and in many ways this is true. Numa tamed the warlike temperaments of
his people and marked a transition from Rome as a small and struggling village to Rome as a
developing civilization. Rome went on to become one of the most powerful, largest empires in
the world, whose achievements and impact are seen even today.

Works Cited

Beard, Mary. SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome. Profile Books, 2016.

Livy, et al. Livy, Book I. Bloomsbury Academic, 2014.

Meisner, Dwayne. “The Evolution of the Roman Calendar.” Past Imperfect,
journals.library.ualberta.ca/pi/index.php/pi/article/view/6634. Accessed 17 Sept. 2023.

Müller, Valentine. “The Shrine of Janus Geminus in Rome – JSTOR.” JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/499831. Accessed 17 Sept. 2023.

Silk, Mark. Numa Pompilius and the Idea of Civil Religion in the West, JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/40005932. Accessed 17 Sept. 2023.

“The Temple of Janus (Janus Geminus).” The Temple of Janus (Janus Geminus), University of
Chicago,
penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/imperialfora/nerva/geminus.html.
Accessed 17 Sept. 2023.