| But the success of the Republic came at a price. It was the purity of Rome's religion that suffered. The city's expansion into a vast empire led to an influx of foreigners, from Greece to Egypt. And with them came their gods. Rome's senators could have suppressed these new divinities and stayed faithful to their own, but they took a more pragmatic approach. Foreign gods, like Isis and Serapis, were absorbed into the state religion and in the third century BC one was even imported to try and avert disaster. In 205 BC, Rome faced one of its gravest crises. For almost a century, the city was engaged in a power struggle for control of the Mediterranean. |
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