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War_Hymn t1_iw109p5 wrote

Reply to What was the societal role of polytheistic Mediterranean religions and their priests? by bhejda

>What did Greek and Roman priests even do?

Speaking as someone from a family that still practices polytheism, as most priests elsewhere, Greek and Roman priests were "privy" to certain divine rituals and rites that people wanted and demanded. This could be rites for good fortune or luck, favour from the deities, protection against harm or evil, or even curses against rivals and foes.

For many of these services, fees will be charged. A temple or sect might also receive patronage and donations from wealthy or powerful believers who want to show their piety or devotion to a deity (or at least the public perception of them).

>In Greek and Roman religions, the gods are pretty much just humans

That just simplify things for people that practice these religions. If the gods are just humans with super powers, then the rational is that they will behave and act like humans. My neighbor Marcus might not be a saint, but if I gift him an jar of wine, he'll most likely be pleased and do me a good favour in return. Likewise, if I sacrifice an amphora of wine to Jupiter or Juno, they'll likely be pleased by it and answer my prayers. In Roman religion, this concept is known as do ut des ("I give that you might give").

Keep in mind, morality is subjective. Just because your version of morality doesn't wholly applied to the beliefs and mythology of Greco-Roman polytheism, does not mean they didn't have their own form of morality in place. What you perceive as "good" or "bad" might be different for a Roman or Greek living two thousand years ago.

>And why would any power derived from them give you any authority over other people?

I mean, you can say the same about monotheistic religions. What gives the Catholic or Islamic priests the authority to represent their monotheistic god on earth? Many instances, monotheistic religious figures have acted and behaved contrary to their "moral" teachings of their faith, yet their members still followed them. These monotheistic institutions have also been challenged and supplemented throughout their history, so they're not exactly invulnerable to strife and discord.

Traditions are powerful thing. Once a religion - mono or poly - establishes itself in a local society, it tends to proactively maintain its place in a way that keeps the people believing in the system.

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en43rs t1_iw0kepr wrote

Reply to comment by aklurking47 in Simple/Short/Silly History Questions Saturday! by AutoModerator

It depends on where and especially when. Traditionally not really because a feudal society implies a somewhat rigid hierarchy.

But that doesn't mean you can't climb up, what change is how much you can climb: In Western Europe most people were serfs in the Middle Ages, meaning they were legally bound to the ground. The literally were forbidden from leaving their village (this was true in Russia up until the late 19th century by the way). Now depending on when and where you are it was absolutely possible to leave serfdom (usually buying your freedom). You will after that be a freeman who would usually rent your land. That's a step up. So there is definitely room for progress here.

What is important to understand is that there a feudal society is not simply "lords rule over peasants, and that's it". There is an internal hierarchy that you could climb: in a village you had poor serfs, you had free men tenant, you had even somewhat rich farmers. In cities you had citizen/burghers, people with specific rights (economic and political) in the city (that's usually the merchants and tradesmen) who were above the people simply living here.

So yeah, you have a complex social structure which you can absolutely climb with luck, connection, marriage, so on. The one barrier that is usually impossible to cross is the nobility: the nobles rule, they are on the top of the pyramid. And if you're not a noble, you're not getting in. In the "classic" feudal system, you cannot cross that. You have a whole internal hierarchy that goes relatively up, but it stops short of actual political power. This changes later, in later centuries during the modern period (15-18th century) in France specifically you could buy a noble title, but it was incredibly expensive.

So could you rise up? Usually no. If you could it was very local. The main thing people could hope for was no longer being serfs. For people in town trying to get into the craftsmen class. So social climbing, but far from rags to riches.

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