Franz Cumont’s Astrology and Religion Among the Greeks and Romans is a groundbreaking and once-suppressed examination of how the forbidden science of astrology shaped the religious evolution of Western civilization. Published in 1912 as part of the American Lectures on the History of Religions, this work uncovers a cosmic conspiracy woven into the very foundations of Greek and Roman spiritual life—a legacy of star-worship, hidden divinities, and occult cosmologies stretching from Babylon to the imperial cults of Rome.

This profound and scholarly work explores how astral theology—banned by later Church orthodoxy—once governed the minds of philosophers, priests, emperors, and mystics, blending science, religion, and magic into one grand cosmic doctrine.

Key elements include:

• The Chaldean Origins of Astrology: How Babylonian priest-astronomers created the first true science of the heavens and married it to religion
  

• The Spread to Greece and Rome: The mysterious transmission of astral cults, planetary spirits, and cosmic ethics to the classical world
  

• The Esoteric Theology of the Stars: Revealing how gods such as Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, and Mars were not only mythic figures—but celestial intelligences tied to destiny and fate
  

• Astral Mysticism and Cult Practice: From Mithraism to Neoplatonism, how secret rites, temple alignments, and planetary cycles governed ancient spirituality
  

• Cosmic Ethics and Eschatology: How belief in the stars shaped moral philosophy, death rituals, and the afterlife in the Hellenistic world
  

• The Decline of Astrology: With Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler, the magic of the stars was stripped of its sacred power—but Cumont shows how its metaphysical impact endures
  

Cumont warns us not to see ancient astrology as primitive pseudoscience. Instead, he reveals it as a sophisticated, organized, and influential belief system—one that viewed the stars not just as physical bodies, but as divine forces shaping personal fate and political destiny. This astral worldview permeated every major religion and philosophy of the Mediterranean world and formed a forbidden bridge between East and West, magic and metaphysics, science and spirituality.

Highly readable yet deeply researched, this book is essential for anyone seeking to understand:

• The true religious landscape of ancient Greece and Rome
  

• The occult origins of classical deities and state rituals
  

• The astrological matrix underlying mythologies
  

• How ancient wisdom was encoded in the heavens—and nearly lost to time
  

If you're drawn to the conspiratorial roots of religion, the mystical architecture of the cosmos, and the once-hidden beliefs that shaped Western civilization, Astrology and Religion Among the Greeks and Romans is your stargate into that forgotten universe.