13,603
edits
Religion in Great Levantia: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
m
no edit summary
mNo edit summary |
|||
| Line 5: | Line 5: | ||
'''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. | '''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 people|Latinic]] settlers from [[Adonerum]] worshiped the typical pantheon of the [[Latinic people|Latinic]] and [[Istroyan civilization|Istroyan]] civilizations, by the 400s BC the Levantines had developed their own religion. The so-called "''Cult of the Stategod''" was a {{wp| | While early [[Latinic people|Latinic]] settlers from [[Adonerum]] worshiped the typical pantheon of the [[Latinic people|Latinic]] and [[Istroyan civilization|Istroyan]] civilizations, by the 400s BC the Levantines had developed their own religion. The so-called "''Cult of the Stategod''" was a {{wp|monolatristic}} religion worshiping ''Levantia Magna'', "Great Levantia", who was both a male deity coterminous with the state and a {{wp|personification}} of the Levantine society. With the introduction of {{wp|Christianity}} in the first century and {{wp|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 {{wp|Pontifex Maximus}} and transferred the title to the [[Pope|Bishop of Urceopolis]], and for the remainder of Great Levantia's history it was a {{wp|Christianity|Christian}} state. | ||
==Early religious traditions== | ==Early religious traditions== | ||
==Cult of the State God== | ==Cult of the State God== | ||
The Cult of the State God was the {{wp| | The Cult of the State God was the {{wp|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 [[Levantine Forum|forum]]. The ''Cult'' was lead by the {{wp|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=== | ===History=== | ||