Quick questions on Religion in Pompeii and Herculaneum: HSC Ancient History

Following the principate of Augustus, the imperial cult became central to civic religion. The Temple of the Genius of Augustus, financed by Mamia, the public priestess, housed images of the emperor's protective deity (his Genius) rather than worshipping the living emperor as a god outright. The Building of Eumachia on the east side of the Forum was dedicated to Concordia Augusta and Pietas; its dedicatory inscription names Eumachia, described simply as sacerdos publica ("public priestess"), as the donor. Some scholars have linked Eumachia's priesthood specifically to the cult of Venus Pompeiana, given Venus's status as civic patron, but the inscription itself does not name her deity, so this attribution should be treated as a scholarly inference rather than a certain fact.

Almost every Pompeian house preserves a lararium, the household shrine for the Lares (guardian deities of the household and crossroads), the Penates (gods of the storeroom), and the Genius of the paterfamilias (the spirit of the head of household).

The Temple of Isis was rebuilt after the AD 62 earthquake. The dedicatory inscription is among the most-quoted Pompeian inscriptions:

Bronze "Hands of Sabazius" (votive hands covered with religious symbols including a serpent, pine cone, and frog) are associated with Pompeii. Sabazius was a Phrygian-Thracian deity syncretised with Jupiter in the Roman period; this specific find-context claim is carried over from earlier scholarship and is worth double-checking against the latest excavation reports.

Some inscriptions and frescoes attest a presence, though the cult is less archaeologically visible than Isis.

A claimed Mithraeum at Pompeii has not been securely identified. The cult was beginning to spread in the western empire in the late 1st century AD but is more visible at Roman frontier sites.

A few graffiti suggest a Jewish presence ("Sodoma, Gomora"; possible Jewish names in inscriptions). The evidence is fragmentary and should be stated cautiously, not as proof of an organised community.

A contested "Christianos" graffito and a possible cross-shape impression in stucco at Herculaneum have led to debate about early Christian presence. Mary Beard treats the evidence as suggestive but not conclusive, and no securely identified church or synagogue has been found at either site.