How was religion linked to the state in early Roman times?

The beliefs of early Romans were animistic in nature. They believed they were watched over by the ancestors. After Roman adoption of Greek mythology and gods and the absorption of Hellenistic culture, the worship of those gods (with changed games) was a public and official practice. Roman religiousness was not based on the search for divine grace but on mutual trust of god and man. Roman religion was aimed at securing cooperation, benevolence and peace from the gods (the so-called pax deorum).