What gods and heroes did the Romans adopt?

Answer 1

The short answer: Any deity or cultic hero with whom they came in contact, except the Judeo-Christian (though the Jews were allowed to worship provided they prayed for the prosperity of the emperor and his empire).

The long answer: The Romans were really adept at adapting and adopting the mythologies of all the cultures they conquered, or, for that matter, admired. So, for instance, the Romans were in deep admiration of the Greek culture and civilization, rightly considering them their cultural ancestors, one only need look to the Aeneid to discover this truth. However, despite their infatuation with the Greeks and incorporation of their myths, it would be inaccurate to say that the Romans plagiarized them from the Greeks, merely Latinizing the names, such that Zeus became Jupiter, Hera became Juno, and Athena became Minerva. Rather, as the Roman civilization has its roots in the Italian region of Latium, these gods and heroes were Etruscan in origin (NB: of the mythic 7 kings of Rome, 5 were Etruscan by ethnicity). However, as the city's realm of influence was expanded by war, alliance, and trade, so, too, was its pantheon. Early in its history, it would have encountered several Greek colonies, and after recognizing the greatness of these people and their advanced civilization, they adopted many Greek customs, even making Greek the language and culture of scholarly study. When they eventually encountered other cultures, they allowed them to retain those parts of their religion which weren't directly in conflict with Roman moral sensibilities, and identified their gods and heroes with the natives'. For instance, the Britannic goddess Sulis, who is supposed as a solar deity with similar powers and background to the Roman Minerva, was combined with the Roman goddess Minerva (the cult of the goddesses was celebrated at modern-day Bath, England). And, it was the same across the board: when the Romans conquered a people, they allowed religion to continue as before, but as an extension of their own pantheon. Only a few cults, like that of Isis in Egypt, managed to be transmitted throughout the empire unassimilated.