Strange Gods And Cults From Afar These are exotic and complex religions which can not be assimilated into the Roman

Strange Gods And Cults From Afar These are exotic and complex religions which can not be assimilated into the Roman

pantheon. They tend to address matters of life and death in terms of the individual and not the state. They are kept apart and efforts are often made to ban them, but the more they are attacked, the more they flourish.

They pave the way for Christianity. Ten years after the Crucifixion there are Christians in Rome. Christianity will become colored by a number of Roman religious practices.

Egypt - contributes Isis* who promises immortality and celebrates the individual. Osiris* sun god who is torn apart and revived by Isis Horus* - son of Osiris, or of Serapis Serapis* - Bull Persia - contributes Mithra* - a favorite cult of Romans, promises life after death. [Mithraic*

temples have been found in all regions of the Roman empire, recently in the heart of London.] Mazda* - sun god - god of light India - Buddhism - which seems very similar to the Stoic* philosohic view. The Christians Begin To Emerge It is time to take a look at that growing group of members of Roman society who come under

the heading of Christians. After the Crucifixion, a group called Nazarenes* (followers of Christ) begin to spread their doctrine in Judea and Syria. It isn't until Saul* of Tarsus, a Roman citizen who speaks Greek, takes up the doctrine and becomes Paul*. He may have been influenced by Mithraism, but he builds a theological system of belief and develops a the heading of Christians. After the Crucifixion, a group called Nazarenes* (followers of Christ) begin to spread their doctrine in Judea and Syria. It isn't until Saul* of Tarsus, a Roman citizen who speaks Greek, takes up the doctrine and becomes Paul*. He may have been influenced by Mithraism, but he builds a theological system of belief and develops a

The first two centuries of Christianity are very obscure. There are no settled creeds and wide local variations [some of which survive to this day]. During these centuries there seem to be a lot of exchanges of ideas, especially into Christianity from the popular and wide spread Mithraic* Cult and the cult of Serapis-Isis-Horus*. Mithraic worship contributes the notion of Sun-day as the day of worship (rather than the Jewish Sabbath); the "blood" imagery, especially "washed in the blood" from its mysteries in which the Mithraist actually bathed in the blood of a sacrificial bull to be "born again".

The Alexandrine cult of Serapis-Isis-Horus* contributes even more to the still fluid Christian belief: the personality of Horus* (at once the son of the god Serapis, and identical with him); the identification of Mary* with Isis and her elevation to quasi-divine. The practical methods of popular religions of this time provide head-shaving for priests and characteristic garments of the Egyptian priests. With all these additions and variations, the history of Christianity in the fourth and fifth centuries is largely a record of disputing views on the nature of Christianity. We will return to the Christians as their activities seen relevant to the progress of society and of the theatre.