When Lived Ancient Religion and Lived Ancient Medicine Meet: The Household Gods, the Household Shrine and Regimen

Abstract

This paper argues that there was a strong connection between Roman domestic religious belief and practice and Roman domestic medical practice through the association of the household gods with the household’s health and well-being. It examines six examples of household shrines from Pompeii and the surrounding area to explore how specific non-elite households utilised their personal private religious beliefs and practices in the service of maintaining the health and well-being of their members. These six household shrines take the form of paintings that depict the household gods in conjunction with specific types of foodstuffs, and these foodstuffs are ones which played an important role in Roman regimen.