The Roman Empire was primarily a polytheistic civilization, which meant that people recognized and worshipped multiple gods and goddesses. Although monotheistic religions existed within the empire, such as Judaism and early Christianity, the Romans worshipped multiple gods.
The gods in Greek culture had a major influence on the development of Roman gods and mythology. Due to Rome’s geographic location, its citizens frequently came into contact with the Greek people, who extended their territories to the Italian peninsula and Sicily.
Other Roman gods and goddesses adopted from Greek culture include Venus, who was modeled after Aphrodite, the goddess of love; Neptune, the god of the sea inspired by the Greek god Poseidon; and Pluto, who ruled like Pluto in Greek culture The Roman underworld; Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt, who had her counterpart in Artemis in Greece; and Mars, the god of war, modeled after the Greek god Ares.
We can still see traces of Roman gods in the artifacts left by ancient civilizations and the art that pays homage to them. Today, we value the stories and myths surrounding these gods as insight into the lives of the ancient Romans more than 2,700 years ago.
REF: education.nationalgeographic.org
PIC: Realm of History, National Geographic Society, Greek TravelTellers, Study.com