Ius Sacrum - XII Tables 2

In other fragments of the X Table it is possible to find the following norm:

"Separatim nemo abessit Deos neve 

novos neve, advenas nisi publice

adscitos: privatim colunto quos rite

a Patribus acceperint"

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Let no one have particular Gods 

neither new Gods nor foreign Gods, 

unless publicly acknowledged, 

privately let men preserve the cults and customs of their Fathers' rites

This norm doesn't ban the introduction of new cults and Deities and it is not inspired to any principle of intolerance.

This norm expresses primarily a prior respect to the Traditional Roman Cults and above all it evidences to Roman Cultores the sacred pact at the base of the traditional society itself, the Pax Romana and the Consensus Deorum. Roman Cultores are thus linked with a sacred pact of reciprocal respect based on antique rites defined by the Patres.

We, today representing the present and future Gentes, state, through the Pietas, this sacred Pact defined ab origine refusing those Deities in conflict with our ethics. This link is surely crucial at public as well as private level. Our communities are in fact composed of families with traditional cults held at home even before in external sacred sites or temples.

We must always keep in mind this principle and in this perspective this norm must be interpreted.