The Role of Fate and the Gods in Ancient Rome

In ancient Rome, Romans believed in such gods as Jupiter and Apollo and that they could influence their fate. The gods had a major role in Roman life and there were two things among others that mattered. One was believing in the gods and the other was worshiping them in the right way. The main reason for worshiping the gods was to make sure they were friendly because if they were, they could give the Romans help or improve their fate. However, there had to be a correct form of worship and this was in the form of prayers and sacrifices to the gods they were hoping to please. Buy giving the correct form of worship, the Romans would “purchase” help while neglecting these forms would result in harm. The gods did not care about a code of morality and were not really interested in how human beings behaved. This is why it often appeared that people who tried to lead a good life suffered disasters, while nasty people did very well.

Fate also had an important role in the ancient Roman world and because many things were fated to happen, they placed a lot of time in learning their future. Roman people believed that fate predetermined their destiny. They also believed that their actions in everyday life influenced fate and their prayers, offerings to the gods were the best way to improve it. However, the gods could change the course of events but not a future event that was fated to happen. So the Romans fate could not change no matter how hard they tried to change it.