. The story of the ancient nations : a text-book for high schools . belief in the gods, were translatedinto Latin and widely read. This brought into Italy the Greek unbelief and religious doubt of that time. The effect upon the Roman polytheism was to weaken its hold upon the people much more quickly even than had been the ease Rjfjy-- *1 r*T! hi Greece. K\\Ew^^*M^S During the First Punic War a ^—TT-r——rr- notable example oi this change in religious spirit appears. In 249 B. C,Publius Claudius, who was one ofthe consuls in command oi theRoman fleet off northwestern Sicily, wished to give battl
. The story of the ancient nations : a text-book for high schools . belief in the gods, were translatedinto Latin and widely read. This brought into Italy the Greek unbelief and religious doubt of that time. The effect upon the Roman polytheism was to weaken its hold upon the people much more quickly even than had been the ease Rjfjy-- *1 r*T! hi Greece. K\\Ew^^*M^S During the First Punic War a ^—TT-r——rr- notable example oi this change in religious spirit appears. In 249 B. C,Publius Claudius, who was one ofthe consuls in command oi theRoman fleet off northwestern Sicily, wished to give battle tothe Punic fleet in the harbor of Drepanum. When the adviceof the gods was sought, as was the usual custom before abattle, the sacred chickens refused to eat the com thrown into them, and the priests declared that the gods advised themagainst fighting. Claudius was angry and ordered thechickens thrown into the sea. If they will not eat, letthem drink. he said. He suffered a great defeat, whichthe more religious of the Romans attributed to his rvKlNG IBB AtTSPICSS FROM the Sacred Chickens. THE CHANGE IN ROMAN LIFE :i27 409. The Introduction of New Cults and the the Greek religious ideas began to influence Rome,a number of the Oriental forms of worship crept in along withthe Greek religious views. In 220 b. c, when the Senate sawthai the wild orgies of the Asiatic religions were quietly beingintroduced by slaves from the East, they tried to pul a stop tothe worship of the Egyptian deities, Isis and Serapis, bydestroying their temple Among the foreign practices that were introduced wasthe Greek worship of Bacchus, in which drunkenness andgreat excesses prevailed. At last the Senate was forcedto step in and forbid the worship, and punish with death anumber who practiced it. We have still a copy of thedecree of the Roman Senate, passed in the year 180 b. <:.,and inscribed upon a bronze tablet. The first paragraphsread thus: Quintue Marcius, so
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