ROMAN MYTHOLOGY

Roman mythology is closely linked in our minds to Greek mythology, and for a good reason. As Rome evolved into an empire, its people began to long for a mythical history to solidify Roman identity. Romans, however, were not particularly interested in the effort it would take to create these myths from scratch, so they borrowed them. Greece was not the only influence on Roman culture, but it was the most prominent one.

Still, when the Romans appropriated these tales, they made them their own, renaming the leading players and infusing the stories with a good dose of Roman ideology. Crucially, Roman religion and myth were meant to be practical. They discarded the Greeks' affinity for poetry and philosophy and instead focused on structure and ceremony--the gods' stories became Rome's stories, providing a divine pedigree for its conquerors and the proper rituals for continued prosperity. In Rome, the gods, like everything else, existed to benefit the empire.

This book will introduce you to those gods, to the heroes they helped (and hindered), to the monsters they created and killed, and to the world of ancient Rome where they were worshipped. The stories are not for the faint of heart. They are full of war and betrayal, of blood and sorrow, of long voyages and narrow escapes, and most of all, of the perilous thrill that awaits mortals that venture into the realm of the gods.