Religion in Rome

The Religio Romana (literally, the "Roman Religion") constituted the major religion of the city in antiquity. The first gods held sacred by the Romans were Jupiter, the highest, and Mars, the god of war, and father of Rome's twin founders, Romulus and Remus, according to tradition. The goddess Vesta became an important part of the Roman Pantheon at an early stage of the Roman Monarchy. The goddess Diana joined the Roman Pantheon during the Monarchy times as the central goddess uniting worship between Rome and several of its neighbors, thus creating the basis for a coalition. The goddess Juno was imported to Rome from the ancient city of Veii, after Veii fell to the Roman military, following a long period of wars between the two cities, during the time of the Roman Republic. Other gods and goddesses were honored in Rome and added to the Pantheon throughout the Monarchy and Republic periods. See Livy, Books 1–5.

The Roman religion was largely concerned with interpreting divine messages (auguries) through natural occurrences (omens). However, Rome had no augurs of its own and largely relied upon

The city of Rome surrounds the Vatican City, the

Judaism

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Judaism has been present in Rome since classical antiquity and Rome is the only city in Europe that has had a constant presence of Jews since the establishment of the Roman Empire.

Islam

In recent years, the Islamic community has grown significantly, in great part due to immigration from North African and Middle Eastern countries into the city. As a result of this trend, the comune promoted the building of the largest mosque in Europe, which was designed by architect Paolo Portoghesi and inaugurated on June 21, 1995.

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