est and faith in the public religion of the Roman state. This was in
part due to the influence of Greek mythology which changed the current
conceptions of the Roman divinities and to Greek philosophy with its
varying doctrines as to the nature and powers of the gods. The latter
especially affected the upper classes of society upon whom fell the duty
of maintaining the public cults. From the time of the Gracchi the public
priesthoods declined in importance; and in many cases they were used
solely as a tool for political purposes. The increase in the numbers of
the priestly colleges and the substitution of election for cooeptation
brought in many members unversed in the ancient traditions, and the
holders of the priesthoods in general showed great ignorance of their
duties, especially with regard to the ordering of the state calendar. Some
religious associations like the Arval Brotherhood ceased to exist and
knowledge of the character of some of the minor deities was completely
lost. The patrician priesthoods, which involved serious duties and
restricted the freedom of their incumbents were avoided as much as
possible. At the same time the private religious rites, hereditary within
family groups, fell into decay. While the attitude of educated circles
towards the state cults was thus one of indifference or skepticism, it is
hard to speak of that of the common people. Superstitious they were beyond
a doubt, but in the performance of the state cults they had never actively
participated. The more emotional cults of the oriental type made a greater
appeal to them if we may judge from the difficulty which the Senate
experienced in banishing the priests of Isis from the city.

*Stoicism and Epicureanism.* The philosophic systems which made the most
converts among the educated Romans were Stoicism and Epicureanism. The
former, as we have seen, had been introduced to Rome by Panaetius, whose
teaching was continued by Posidonius. It appealed to the Romans as
offering a practical rule of life for men engaged in public affairs. On
the other hand, the doctrine of Epicurus that men should withdraw from the
annoyances of political life and seek happiness in the pursuit of
pleasure, that is, intellectual pleasure, was interpreted by the Roman as
sanctioning sensual indulgence and became the creed of those who gave
themselves up to a life of ease and indolence.

*Literature.* The last century of the republic saw the completion of the
ama