The Open court . on of an official state religion in thereign of Augustus. This transformation of the local worship in theseveral provinces was accomplished with great discretion and it wasof extraordinary importance because it gave stability to the empireby adding a religious sanction to the order established by conquest. Religion played a greater part in ancient history than we arecommonly aware of, and the office of Pontifex Maximus, or , was more significant than it might seem, judging from ourusual treatment of history. When the empire was established the Pontifex Maximus ofRo
The Open court . on of an official state religion in thereign of Augustus. This transformation of the local worship in theseveral provinces was accomplished with great discretion and it wasof extraordinary importance because it gave stability to the empireby adding a religious sanction to the order established by conquest. Religion played a greater part in ancient history than we arecommonly aware of, and the office of Pontifex Maximus, or , was more significant than it might seem, judging from ourusual treatment of history. When the empire was established the Pontifex Maximus ofRome became superior also to the Roman priests in the provinces, andespecially in the colonies and municipal towns. His authority fromwhat might be called a bishop of Rome changed into that of a bishopof bishops, or pope, and we can here clearly understand how thereligious rites and institutions of pagan Rome prepared the way forthe superiority of Christian Rome. THE RELIGION OF ANCIENT GAUL AND CAESAR WORSHIP. 725. STATUE OF AUGUSTUS. The first great province which added an untold increase of powerto the Roman empire was Gaul. Sicily, Africa, Macedonia, Greece,Spain and Pergamon were prosperous and rich countries, but none 726 • THE OPEN COURT. of them possessed a population of such native vigor as this northernprovince which had been added by Csesar to the sway of Romesdominion. Italy had lost its warlike strength to a great extent, andGaul offered new resources for recruiting soldiers and officers. Cse-sar had understood how to turn the capabilities of the Gauls to use,and we must assume that great as he was in the field he was stillgreater in statesmanship. He must have known how to gain theconfidence and friendship of those Gallic people who saw their ownadvantage in a connection with their more civilized, richer and morepowerful southern neighbors. He must have established trade andcommerce, and the cities were satisfied with the new governmentnot only because it was firm
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade188, booksubjectreligion, bookyear1887
