<P> Roman religion was practical and contractual, based on the principle of do ut des, "I give that you might give". Religion depended on knowledge and the correct practice of prayer, ritual, and sacrifice, not on faith or dogma, although Latin literature preserves learned speculation on the nature of the divine and its relation to human affairs . Even the most skeptical among Rome's intellectual elite such as Cicero, who was an augur, saw religion as a source of social order . As the Roman Empire expanded, migrants to the capital brought their local cults, many of which became popular among Italians . Christianity was in the end the most successful of these, and in 380 became the official state religion . </P> <P> For ordinary Romans, religion was a part of daily life . Each home had a household shrine at which prayers and libations to the family's domestic deities were offered . Neighborhood shrines and sacred places such as springs and groves dotted the city . The Roman calendar was structured around religious observances . Women, slaves, and children all participated in a range of religious activities . Some public rituals could be conducted only by women, and women formed what is perhaps Rome's most famous priesthood, the state - supported Vestals, who tended Rome's sacred hearth for centuries, until disbanded under Christian domination . </P> <P> The priesthoods of public religion were held by members of the elite classes . There was no principle analogous to separation of church and state in ancient Rome . During the Roman Republic (509--27 BC), the same men who were elected public officials might also serve as augurs and pontiffs . Priests married, raised families, and led politically active lives . Julius Caesar became pontifex maximus before he was elected consul . </P> <P> The augurs read the will of the gods and supervised the marking of boundaries as a reflection of universal order, thus sanctioning Roman expansionism as a matter of divine destiny . The Roman triumph was at its core a religious procession in which the victorious general displayed his piety and his willingness to serve the public good by dedicating a portion of his spoils to the gods, especially Jupiter, who embodied just rule . As a result of the Punic Wars (264--146 BC), when Rome struggled to establish itself as a dominant power, many new temples were built by magistrates in fulfillment of a vow to a deity for assuring their military success . </P>

Who was allowed to participate in politics during the time of ancient greece and rome