Thread by @Arby_K

So, planning to write a multi threaded thread on people from years gone by, that still have an impact on the world today.

First up is a king who I credit with creating the @Pontifex and the religion with the largest followers in the world.

And no, it is not Jesus 🤦 .

Numa Pompilius was supposed to have been born in 1 ab urbe condita (AUC) , aka 753 BC, the year the city of Rome was founded. He would become its king in 715 BC though he was a Sabine unlike his predecessor, Romulus.

So who are the Sabines? - Read en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rape_… 1/10

As they say Rome was not built in a day, King Numa Pompilius has been credited with creating many of the institutions of Rome which formed the base around which the city would grow into an empire over the next 900 years.
Some like the Pontifex, even survive today. 2/10

As the son-in-law of a Sabine king, Numa Pompilius, would oversee a reign of peace and stability for the city, but also a time to develop the meaning of being Roman. Remember this was a time when Rome was just a minor city.

Even Latin was foreign britannica.com/topic/Latin-Le… 3/10

Among the many reforms that would last, the major one was the 12 month Roman calendar.

It was Numa who added January and February to the 10 month calendar made by Romulus. The addition of the two months before March is also why October is the 10th month and not 8th (Oct). 4/10

Then there were the religious institutions - Vestal Virgins and the cults of Jupiter & Mars.

He also deified his predecessor, Romulus, as Quirinus, the son of Mars & god of War.

The three formed the original Capitoline Triad in a sense foreshadowing Christian Trinity. 5/10

And finally, the office of the Pontifex Maximus - The high priest of the Roman religion.

As Catholic Church became the Roman religion, it also absorbed many practices of its predecessor. While Emperor was Pontifex Maximus, head of the Catholic Church became the @Pontifex 6/10

As Rome grew and evolved, so did the religion Numa created. The Capitoline Triad changed and so did the portfolio of gods. A College of Pontiffs was created, akin to the College of Cardinals. As nations got absorbed, their gods were added to the Roman Pantheon. 7/10

Egyptian Isis, Persian/Vedic Mithra and Syrian Elagabalus all became Roman gods.

The Crisis of the Third Century made the structure untenable and eventually, Constantine went for a full system reset and opted for Christianity in 313. 8/10

One of the first things that Constantine did while remaking the Roman religion was to decide what it was, at Nicaea in 325.

Many practices of the religion of Numa were copied by the new Roman religion, like the practice of assimilating former religions of its followers. 9/10

Finally, I had written on the practice of old religions copying other religions earlier. It used to be a much more common occurrence. disjointedlaptop.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/hin… 10/10