Religion in Great Levantia
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Religion in Great Levantia includes the ancestral ethnic religion of Great Levantia that the ancient Levantines used to define themselves as a people, as well as the religious practices of peoples brought under Levantine rule, in so far as they became widely followed in wider Levantia. The Levantines thought of themselves as highly religious, and attributed their success as a world power to their collective piety (pietas) in maintaining good relations with the divine.
While early Latinic settlers from Adonerum worshiped the typical pantheon of the Latinic and Istroyan civilizations, by the 400s BC the Levantines had developed their own religion. The so-called "Cult of the Stategod" was a monolatristic religion worshiping Levantia Magna, "Great Levantia", who was both a male deity coterminous with the state and a personification of the Levantine society. With the introduction of Christianity in the first century and mystery cults from Sarpedon in the second century, the Cult of the Stategod entered a period of decline. While the mystery cults were popular among members of high society in the period between 175 and 250, the inexorable march of Christianity lead to it becoming the religion of the majority of people in Great Levantia, probably between 269 and 279. In 307, Christianity became legal upon Amadeus Agrippa's seizure of power, and in 314 he deposed the last Pontifex Maximus and transferred the title to the Bishop of Urceopolis, and for the remainder of Great Levantia's history it was a Christian state.
Early religious traditions
Cult of the State God
The Cult of the State God was the monolatristic religion of the middle period of Great Levantia. It worshipped Levantia Magna, a personification of the state itself and a god figure finding its origins in the origin myth of the Great Levantine state. His Cult was the official state cult and worship of him was required of all Levantines. It is suggested by the historical record that the connection between the god itself and the state was little understood by all but priests, the upper classes, and Levantine philosophers, and consequently was a highly ritualistic religion. Ancient Levantine religion was practical and contractual, based on the principle of do ut des, "I give that you might give". Religion depended on knowledge and the correct practice of prayer, ritual, and sacrifice, not on faith or dogma, although Latin literature preserves learned speculation on the nature of the divine and its relation to human affairs. Ancient Levantines believed that the proper worship of the state god would result in good fortune on the battlefield and in the forum. The Cult was lead by the Pontifex Maximus, and became especially important following the elevation of the Pontifex Maximus to the height of civic power under the reforms of Gaius Stephanus Pictor.
History
The origin myth of Great Levantia - the Journey of the Fifty - discusses a demigod hero named "Levas" who leads forty nine other demigods out of Istroya, to Urlazio, and eventually into Levantia. At the end of the story, Levas is spoken to by the Istroyan pantheon and is given the entire land and disappears. Some traditions include him ascending into the heavens, while others include him "melting" into the soil itself. Though having ascended to godhood himself, he continues to rule the entire land from a "divine estate" in Urceopolis, which he founded. This origin myth is considered the religious foundation of the Cult of the State God. Early practitioners of the Levas Cult, which is estimated to have started sometime in the mid 500s BC, believed Levas to be a supernatural and eternal King who ruled as King of all of the eastern Adonerii, who founded Great Levantia. In this early version, the god Levas ruled merely as King rather than being supernaturally identified with the state itself. With the further development of the mythology of Levantia, the Levantine cult began to ascribe the natural fortunes and misfortunes of early Great Levantia to Levas himself, identifying him not only as ruler of the state but also ruler of the fortunes of the state itself. By the mid 300s BC, the first evidence of the state being identified with Levas himself is found within the historical record. It is thought that Levantia Magna - as Levas was now worshipped - incorporated elements of the traditional Adonerii god, Terminus during this time period. By the first and second centuries BC, the correlation of Levantia Magna the god with Great Levantia the state was fully complete. Religious thought shifted to the god being outside the world to fully within the world, with all of the people in Great Levantia living under his protection. Consequently, ritualism and contractual agreement became paramount in worship of the State God as it was only he who could deliver victory in battle for Great Levantia and only he who could grant good harvest.
The Cult reached its height in terms of adherents and development in the first century, then entered a sharp decline by the middle of the 2nd century. The arrival of Christianity, combined with growing social pressures and dissatisfaction with the idea of living under an arbitrary godstate began to detract from cult adherence.