Roman Religion: Classical Gods

As they follow the flow of Western Civilization, the gods will change slightly to reflect the culture of the country they currently reside in. Normally, this change has only a small effect and is not permanent. However, the gods have resided in Rome almost as long as they ruled from Greece, and therefore each god has a Roman aspect to themselves that they can change into. In this form, the gods became more disciplined, warlike, and militaristic ― the characteristics associated with the ancient Roman Empire.
As Roman gods, they rarely interacted with mortals or had affairs with them. When they did, however, these relationships produced Roman demigods who knew of their godly parent only by their Roman name, spoke Latin, and possessed a disciplined, ferocious and orderly quality not present in the Greek demigods. These Roman demigod children were sent to be trained by Lupa, Mother Wolf  and former mother of Romulus and Remus.

This section is for the main gods of Olympus.

Jupiter

Jupiter - King of Olympus and the Gods and God of light and sky, and protector of the state and its laws. The Romans worshiped him especially as Jupiter Optimus Maximus (the best and the greatest). This name refers not only to his rule over the Universe, but also to his function as the god of the state who distributes laws, and controls the realm.

Mars

Mars - God of War, Strategy and Martial Victory. Mars is a dedicated strategist and dislikes unnecessary bloodshed in stark contrast to Ares, his true Greek form, whom loves the idea of combat, endless carnage and violence. Also Mars is seen as supreme warrior god and is widely respect by the legionaries, compared to the hated Greek counterpart. Mars is the son of Jupiter and Juno and twin brother of Bellona. Mars is the father of Romulus and Remus.

Juno

Juno - Goddess of Marriage, Patron of Women and Motherhood, Queen of Heaven and Gods. While the Greeks envisioned Hera as imperious and proud, the Romans saw her counterpart as the patron goddess of Rome. As Juno, she becomes more disciplined, militaristic, and warlike.

Venus

Venus - Goddess of Love and Beauty, Lady of Desire and Graces. The Greeks envisioned Aphrodite as a passionate and sensuous being. The Romans hailed Venus as the divine ancestress of their culture. Other than that fact, her Greek and Roman sides stay the same unlike the rest of the gods, since she explains that love is universal.

Ceres

Ceres - Goddess of Agriculture and Harvest, Lawgiver and Mistress of the Seasons. Romans believed that she was the one who gave the laws and rites of Ceres protected all the activities of the agricultural cycle.

Apollo

Apollo - God of the Sun, Healing and Prophecy, Lord of Music and Poetry. Apollo is son of Jupiter and Latona, and twin brother of Diana, and of all the divinities in the pagan world, the chief Patron and Protector of the Polite Arts, and the most eye-catching character in theology; nor unjustly, from the glorious attributes ascribed to him, for he is the God of Light, Medicine, Eloquence, Music, Poetry, and Prophecy. One of Apollo's more important daily tasks is to harness his chariot with four horses an drive the Sun across the sky. The Greeks have Helios as the Titan God of Sun and for the Roman Apollo.

Diana

Diana - Goddess of Chastity and the Wilderness, Lady of the Hunt and Wild Things. The Greeks envisioned Artemis as an independent and vigorous goddess of the wilderness and hunt while the Romans depicted Diana additionally as the goddess of the moon.

Vulcan

Vulcan - God of Fire and the Forge, Lord of Artisans and Craftsmen, Workman to the Immortals. While the Greeks envisioned Hephaestus as a benevolent and clever being, the Romans believed Vulcan was also the god of volcanoes which gave him a greater respect among their people.

Mercury

Mercury - God of Dexterity and Commerce and Markets, Lord of Messengers, Messenger of the Gods. Mercury is more as the god of commerce and trade rather than just being a god of thievery and travel.

Vesta

Vesta (meaning "hearth" or "fireside") is the eldest child of Saturn. She is the virgin Goddess of the Hearth, Home, Domesticity, and Family. She received the first offering at every sacrifice in the household and state.

Minerva

Minerva - Goddess of Wisdom, Weaving, Arts and Crafts and Lady of Civilization and Innovation. Unlike her Greek counterpart Athena, Minerva lost most of her war skill and instead was goddess of crafts. As a war deity she's only favorable to defensive wars.

Neptune

Neptune - God of Water and Horse. The Romans, who were not seafaring people, associated him more with fresh water and horses, and treated him with a fearful respect. For Greeks, he was a major civic god and was highly respected for being the god of the sea and earthquakes. However the Romans, who were not seafaring people, associated him more with fresh water and horses, and treated him with a fearful respect.

Other gods that the popular among the Romans were:

Pluto

Pluto - God of Wealth, the Dead, Lord of the Underworld. While the Greeks feared him as the Lord of the Underworld, the Romans respected him as the god of wealth.

Bacchus

Bacchus - God of Wine, Ecstasy; Lord of Theatre and Vegetation. He is also the God of Good-cheer and Laughter; and of him, as such, the poets have not been sparing in their praises: on all occasions of mirth and jollity, they constantly invoked his presence, and as constantly thanked him for the blessings he bestowed. To him they ascribed the forgetfulness of cares, and the delights of social converse.

Bellona

Bellona is the Roman Goddess of War, closely associated with Mars, the Roman God of War. She is always his companion, although she called his wife, daughter, younger sister, or charioteer but mostly identified for being his twin sister. She is daughter of Jupiter and Juno. She is an important goddess to the Romans, as she also controls the policy of foreign warfare.

Cupid

Cupid was God of Love, Lust and Primal sexual desire.  He is personified in all kinds of love and lust -- heterosexual and homosexual -- and was worshipped at the center of a fertility cult that honored both Cupid and Venus together.

Nemesis

Nemesis is the Goddess of Justice and Retribution. She keeps happiness and unhappiness balanced among the mortals. She sees that justice is served for those who have acquired things in a malicious way.  For this She calls the Erinyes (Furies), these demon goddesses get things done. Nemesis also brings about loss or suffering in those she feels has been experiencing too much good fortune. This brings balance into one’s life and humbles us as well.

Asclepius

Asclepius (Latin Aesculapius) is God of Medicine and Healing in ancient Greek religion. Asclepius was originally a demigod and later became the God of Medicine and Healing after death, according to the ancient Greeks. The myth of Asclepius connected to the origins of medical science and the healing arts. His cult was particularly popular all over Greece and people from all Mediterranean countries used to come to his temples, named Asclepieion, for a cure for diseases and ailments. Remains these temples are still visit today. 

Hercules

Heracles or Herakles was a divine hero, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, stepson of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus. He was the greatest of the Greek heroes, a paragon of masculinity, the ancestor of royal clans and a champion of the Olympian order against chthonic monsters. In Rome and the modern West, he is known as Hercules, with whom the later Roman Emperors, in particular Commodus and Maximinus, often identified themselves. The Romans adopted the Greek version of his life and works essentially unchanged, but added anecdotal detail of their own, some of it linking the hero with the geography of the Central Mediterranean. Details of cult were adapted to Rome as well.