The Religion of Ancient Rome

The Religion of Ancient Rome is a book by Cyril Bailey, first published in 1907. Written by an Oxford classicist, the short, scholarly work surveys the native Roman faith — its rites, priesthoods, and civic place in pre-Christian and Republican Rome — and situates those practices within the broader sweep of Roman social and political life.

Bailey approaches the subject with the careful philological and historical methods of early 20th-century classical scholarship, offering readers a clear introduction to topics such as the cult of Numa, Roman ritual forms, and the relationship between religion and the state. Concise and readable, the book functions as both an accessible primer for newcomers to ancient Roman religion and a useful summary for students of classics and religious history. It emphasises how ritual, law and custom shaped Roman identity and influenced later Western institutions, making it a valuable text for anyone researching Roman rituals, pagan Rome, or the foundations of religious practice in classical antiquity.