Salvete

Patience. Allow me to take this matter of private religion from a different angle. St. Christopher is no longer recognized as a saint by the Catholic church. So if a person wears a St. Chris medallion, places a St. Chris on his dash, and prays to St. Chris for a safe journey, is that to be neglected from our consideration of religious practices because it isn't reflective of the 'state' cult?

If you go into the Highlands of Guatamala and see a Mayan shamen, have him count out the days and follow his instructions for healing some ailment, are you participating in the 'state' cultus that is Catholicism, or a cultus gentialis, or is this not any form of religious practise?

That is my problem with Beard's remark. If you use the term religio Romana or use Roman religion (more inclusive), and are speaking about Roman religious practices (still more inclusive), then it involves more than just the official state cult and a few culti gentialis. What is religion, what are religious practices? If St. Chris and Priapus are not part of the state cult or part of a cultus gentialis, are we to dismiss their worship as something other than religion? Where would we place Diana of Aricia and the Rex Nemorensis, and all the other culti dei that do not fit the description of being part of the state cult or a cultus gentialis?