Inclusion of other deities

Roman primitive religions were modified both by the addition of new beliefs in later times, and for the assimilation of a great part of Greek mythology. Thus, Roman religion was consolidated before the start of the literary tradition, therefore, the early Roman writers who wrote about their religion were ​​unaware of its origins in most cases, such as the polygraph of the 1st century BC Marcus Terentius Varro. Other writers, like the poet Ovid in his Fasti, with a large influence of Alexandrian models, incorporated Greek beliefs to fill gaps in the Roman tradition.

The absorption of the native gods of the neighboring countries came when Rome conquered the surrounding territory. The Romans used to give the local gods of the conquered territory the same honors as their own. On many occasions, they “invited” the newly assimilated divinities to move their residence to new sanctuaries in Rome. In addition, the growth of the city attracted foreigners, who were allowed to continue the worship of their gods. Along with Castor and Pollux, through this process of acculturation, seem to have contributed to the Roman pantheon Diana, Minerva, Hercules, Venus, and other deities of lesser rank, some of which were Roman and others came from Greece.

The first Eastern religion who came to Rome was the worship of the goddess Cybele and her lover Attis: it was a divine couple. Cybele, called “great mother” symbolized fertility and the power of nature. The symbol of the cult of Cybele was a black meteorite. It was a primitive and violent religion: in the ceremonies of the cult of Cybele, the faithful were sprinkled with the blood of the victims, they should purify the person and make him immortal.

From Iran came Mithras. He was a soldier-god. The Persians saw Mithras as an intermediary between good and evil forces. After an impressive ritual, in which the faithful was covered by the blood of a slaughtered bull, he became a Mithras soldier, as Mithras, at the beginning of the world, captured a large bull that symbolized him and sacrificed it by order of God Sun.

The important Roman gods and goddesses ended up being identified with the Greek gods and goddesses more anthropomorphic, and whose attributes and myths were also incorporated.

Roman mythology meets the beliefs, rituals and other practices pertaining to supernatural realm that ancient Roman people held or did since the ancient period until Christianity absorbed definitely the religions of the Roman Empire in the early Middle Ages.

Relative pronouns

The relative pronoun’s only function is the phoric, as it always refers to the antecedent, with which it agrees in gender and number.

The main use of the relative pronoun is the nexus for introducing subordinate adjective or relative clauses.

Sallutius bellum scripsit quod Populus Romanus cum Iugurtha fecit = Sallust wrote the war that Roman people made against Jugurtha

Interrogative-indefinite pronouns

The interrogative pronoun-adjective (who, what) and the indefinite pronoun (someone, something) are identically declined, with the exception that the indefinite adds two more ways: qua, in the feminine singular nominative form, and also qua in the neuter plural nominative. Except in some forms of the nominative, its decline is exactly equal to the relative pronoun.

As for the role of the interrogative pronoun, there are two possibilities: a) phoric function, it points to the answer, b) negative emphatic function, because it marks the indeterminacy of the subject that makes the question.

It is said that the quis, quid forms of the singular masculine and neuter are used as interrogative pronouns, while forms qui, quod appear as interrogative adjectives:

Quis venit? = Who came?

Qui servus venit? = What slave came?

Quid accidit? = What happens?

Quod templum ruit? = What temple is collapsing?

El pronombre interrogativo se usa para introducir tanto interrogativas directas (sirvan de ejemplo las frases anteriores) como interrogativas subordinadas o indirectas:

Nescio quis venerit = I don’t know who’s come

The indefinite pronoun quis‘ main role is the emphatic negative function, as it marks the indeterminacy of the sender. Some may also have indefinite phoric function as alius and alter, which refer to things or beings already mentioned or known.

This indefinite quis is less used than some of its compound forms (aliquis), and often appears as a subjunctive function behind si, nisi, ne and interrogative particle num:

Si quis hoc dicit, errat = if someone says that, he is wrong

Si qui mihi deus vestram ad me audiendum benevolentiam conciliarit… = if some god grant me your willingness to listen to me…

Caveant consules ne quid detrimenti res publica capiat = consuls may take care that the republic will not be damaged

Other indefinite pronouns

Pronounds compound from quis:

• aliquis, aliqua, aliquid (-od): someone, something.
• quidam, quaedam, quiddam (quoddam): some, someone.
• quisque,quaeque, quidque (quodque): each one.
• quivis, quaevis, quidvis(quodvis): any.
• quilibet, quaelibet, quidlibet (quodlibet): any.
• quisquam (masc. and fem.), quicquam (quidquam): someone, something (used mainly in negative sentences or doubtful sentences).

Other indefinite pronouns:

• alius, alia, aliud: other (when it comes to more than two).
• alter, altera, alterum: the other, the second one (in the case of two).
• totus, -a, -um: all, the whole.
• solus, -a, -um: only.
• ullus, -a, -um: some, one.
• nullus, -a, -um: none.
• uterque, utraque, utrumque: each one, both.
• neuter, neutra, neutrum: none of who, either.
• nemo: no-one, nobody (sonly used in nominative -nemo-, accusative -neminem-, and dative -nemini-).
• nihil: nothing (neuter form used only in nominative and accusative).