Interpretatio Romana

Interpretatio Romana was the Roman practice of identifying foreign gods with Roman deities perceived to have similar attributes or functions. It made unfamiliar religious traditions intelligible through Roman categories.

Interpretatio Graeca: The practice of interpreting foreign gods as equivalents of Greek deities. It is the Greek counterpart, often the model for Roman identifications.
Jupiter Dolichenus: A Roman-period god combining Jupiter’s identity with the cult of Baal of Doliche. His name and imagery make a local Syrian god legible within Roman religion.
Polytheism in ancient Rome: The system of worshipping many gods and divine powers in ancient Roman society. Roman religious plurality made adding or identifying foreign gods possible.
Religious syncretism: The blending or combination of religious traditions, practices, or divine identities. Interpretatio Romana could produce hybrid cults while leaving local features intact.
Religious syncretism in the Roman Empire: The blending of religious traditions within the Roman Empire. Syncretism describes combination, while interpretatio can mean identifying gods without merging their cults.
Interpretatio Celtica: The interpretation of Celtic deities through Roman divine names and associations. Roman dedications show this method applied to gods worshipped in Celtic regions.
Sulis Minerva: A Romano-British goddess formed through the association of the local goddess Sulis with Minerva. The pairing preserves a local divine name while supplying a Roman counterpart.
Interpretatio romana in Tacitus: Tacitus’s use of Roman divine names when describing the gods of foreign peoples. His accounts provide a prominent literary instance of the practice.
Romanization: The adoption and adaptation of Roman cultural practices in the provinces. Roman divine labels formed one channel of cultural translation under imperial rule.
Religious assimilation: The adoption of one religious tradition through the displacement or absorption of another. Foreign gods were not always erased when Roman names were applied to them.

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