Roman Religion

Roman Religion

Author: Valerie M. Warrior

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2006-10-16

Total Pages: 251

ISBN-13: 1316264920

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Examining sites that are familiar to many modern tourists, Valerie Warrior avoids imposing a modern perspective on the topic by using the testimony of the ancient Romans to describe traditional Roman religion. The ancient testimony recreates the social and historical contexts in which Roman religion was practised. It shows, for example, how, when confronted with a foreign cult, official traditional religion accepted the new cult with suitable modifications. Basic difficulties, however, arose with regard to the monotheism of the Jews and Christianity. Carefully integrated with the text are visual representations of divination, prayer, and sacrifice as depicted on monuments, coins, and inscriptions from public buildings and homes throughout the Roman world. Also included are epitaphs and humble votive offerings that illustrate the piety of individuals, and that reveal the prevalence of magic and the occult in the spiritual lives of the ancient Romans.


Book Synopsis Roman Religion by : Valerie M. Warrior

Download or read book Roman Religion written by Valerie M. Warrior and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2006-10-16 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examining sites that are familiar to many modern tourists, Valerie Warrior avoids imposing a modern perspective on the topic by using the testimony of the ancient Romans to describe traditional Roman religion. The ancient testimony recreates the social and historical contexts in which Roman religion was practised. It shows, for example, how, when confronted with a foreign cult, official traditional religion accepted the new cult with suitable modifications. Basic difficulties, however, arose with regard to the monotheism of the Jews and Christianity. Carefully integrated with the text are visual representations of divination, prayer, and sacrifice as depicted on monuments, coins, and inscriptions from public buildings and homes throughout the Roman world. Also included are epitaphs and humble votive offerings that illustrate the piety of individuals, and that reveal the prevalence of magic and the occult in the spiritual lives of the ancient Romans.

Pantheon

Pantheon

Author: Joerg Ruepke

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2020-11-03

Total Pages: 572

ISBN-13: 0691211558

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From one of the world's leading authorities on the subject, an innovative and comprehensive account of religion in the ancient Roman and Mediterranean world In this ambitious and authoritative book, Jörg Rüpke provides a comprehensive and strikingly original narrative history of ancient Roman and Mediterranean religion over more than a millennium—from the late Bronze Age through the Roman imperial period and up to late antiquity. While focused primarily on the city of Rome, Pantheon fully integrates the many religious traditions found in the Mediterranean world, including Judaism and Christianity. This generously illustrated book is also distinguished by its unique emphasis on lived religion, a perspective that stresses how individuals’ experiences and practices transform religion into something different from its official form. The result is a radically new picture of Roman religion and of a crucial period in Western religion—one that influenced Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and even the modern idea of religion itself.


Book Synopsis Pantheon by : Joerg Ruepke

Download or read book Pantheon written by Joerg Ruepke and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-11-03 with total page 572 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From one of the world's leading authorities on the subject, an innovative and comprehensive account of religion in the ancient Roman and Mediterranean world In this ambitious and authoritative book, Jörg Rüpke provides a comprehensive and strikingly original narrative history of ancient Roman and Mediterranean religion over more than a millennium—from the late Bronze Age through the Roman imperial period and up to late antiquity. While focused primarily on the city of Rome, Pantheon fully integrates the many religious traditions found in the Mediterranean world, including Judaism and Christianity. This generously illustrated book is also distinguished by its unique emphasis on lived religion, a perspective that stresses how individuals’ experiences and practices transform religion into something different from its official form. The result is a radically new picture of Roman religion and of a crucial period in Western religion—one that influenced Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and even the modern idea of religion itself.

Greek and Roman Religions

Greek and Roman Religions

Author: Rebecca I. Denova

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2019-01-14

Total Pages: 341

ISBN-13: 1118542959

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Offers an introduction to the basic beliefs, practices, and major deities of Greek and Roman religions A volume in the Blackwell Ancient Religions, Greek and Roman Religions offers an authoritative overview of the region’s ancient religious practices. The author—a noted expert in the field—explores the presence of divinity in all aspects of ancient life and highlights the origins of myth, religious authority, institutions, beliefs, rituals, sacred texts, and ethics. Comprehensive in scope, the text focuses on myriad aspects that constitute Greco-Roman culture such as economic class, honor and shame, and slavery as well as the religious role of each member of the family. The integration of ethnic and community identity with divine elements are highlighted in descriptions of religious festivals. Greek and Roman Religions presents the evolution of ideas concerning death and the afterlife and the relation of death to concepts of ultimate justice. The author also offers insight into the elements of ancient religions that remain important in our contemporary quest for meaning. This vital text: Offers a comprehensive review of ancient Greek and Roman religions and their institutions, beliefs, rituals, and more Examines how the Roman culture and religions borrowed from the Greek traditions Explores the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean Basin Contains suggestions at the end of each chapter for further reading that include both traditional studies and more recent examinations of topical issues Written for students of ancient religions and religious studies, this important resource provides an overview of the ancient culture and history of the general region as well as the basic background of Greek and Roman civilizations.


Book Synopsis Greek and Roman Religions by : Rebecca I. Denova

Download or read book Greek and Roman Religions written by Rebecca I. Denova and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2019-01-14 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Offers an introduction to the basic beliefs, practices, and major deities of Greek and Roman religions A volume in the Blackwell Ancient Religions, Greek and Roman Religions offers an authoritative overview of the region’s ancient religious practices. The author—a noted expert in the field—explores the presence of divinity in all aspects of ancient life and highlights the origins of myth, religious authority, institutions, beliefs, rituals, sacred texts, and ethics. Comprehensive in scope, the text focuses on myriad aspects that constitute Greco-Roman culture such as economic class, honor and shame, and slavery as well as the religious role of each member of the family. The integration of ethnic and community identity with divine elements are highlighted in descriptions of religious festivals. Greek and Roman Religions presents the evolution of ideas concerning death and the afterlife and the relation of death to concepts of ultimate justice. The author also offers insight into the elements of ancient religions that remain important in our contemporary quest for meaning. This vital text: Offers a comprehensive review of ancient Greek and Roman religions and their institutions, beliefs, rituals, and more Examines how the Roman culture and religions borrowed from the Greek traditions Explores the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean Basin Contains suggestions at the end of each chapter for further reading that include both traditional studies and more recent examinations of topical issues Written for students of ancient religions and religious studies, this important resource provides an overview of the ancient culture and history of the general region as well as the basic background of Greek and Roman civilizations.

An Introduction to Roman Religion

An Introduction to Roman Religion

Author: John Scheid

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 9780253216601

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"An Introduction to Roman Religion" offers students of ancient Rome and classical civilization entry into a distant world in which the state, the social life of the city, and religion were inextricably bound. Professor Scheid draws on the latest findings in archaeology and history to explain the meanings of rituals, rites, auspices, and oracles, to describe the uses of temples and sacred ground, and to evoke the daily patterns of religious life and observance within the city of Rome and its environs. "An Introduction to Roman Religion" includes a wealth of quotations from primary sources, a chronology of religious and historical events from 750 BC to AD 494, a full glossary and an annotated guide to further reading. -- From publisher's description.


Book Synopsis An Introduction to Roman Religion by : John Scheid

Download or read book An Introduction to Roman Religion written by John Scheid and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "An Introduction to Roman Religion" offers students of ancient Rome and classical civilization entry into a distant world in which the state, the social life of the city, and religion were inextricably bound. Professor Scheid draws on the latest findings in archaeology and history to explain the meanings of rituals, rites, auspices, and oracles, to describe the uses of temples and sacred ground, and to evoke the daily patterns of religious life and observance within the city of Rome and its environs. "An Introduction to Roman Religion" includes a wealth of quotations from primary sources, a chronology of religious and historical events from 750 BC to AD 494, a full glossary and an annotated guide to further reading. -- From publisher's description.

Continuity and Change in Roman Religion

Continuity and Change in Roman Religion

Author: John Hugo Wolfgang Gideon Liebeschuetz

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 1979

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13:

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This is a survey of the religious attitudes reflected in Latin literature from the late Republic to the time of Constantine. Its main theme is the development of the Roman public religion in that period. Within this theme the most pervasive issue is the relationship between Roman religion and morality. Though the link between the two is shown to be closer than is often supposed, it was also the case that the rise of such systems as Stoicism and Christianity contributed to a sense of morality more detached from traditional conceptions of the collective well-being of the Roman state. Nevertheless, the old religion continued to flourish and to contribute in numerous ways to the working of Roman society until it was fatally weakened by the political and social crisis of the third century. This crisis, and the tendency of the Roman Empire to depend upon and encourage new sources of support, prepared the way for the emergence of Christianity, first as the religion of the Emperor, and then, after a period in which Christians and pagans were able to co-operate by emphasizing their common beliefs, as the official religion of the Empire.


Book Synopsis Continuity and Change in Roman Religion by : John Hugo Wolfgang Gideon Liebeschuetz

Download or read book Continuity and Change in Roman Religion written by John Hugo Wolfgang Gideon Liebeschuetz and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1979 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a survey of the religious attitudes reflected in Latin literature from the late Republic to the time of Constantine. Its main theme is the development of the Roman public religion in that period. Within this theme the most pervasive issue is the relationship between Roman religion and morality. Though the link between the two is shown to be closer than is often supposed, it was also the case that the rise of such systems as Stoicism and Christianity contributed to a sense of morality more detached from traditional conceptions of the collective well-being of the Roman state. Nevertheless, the old religion continued to flourish and to contribute in numerous ways to the working of Roman society until it was fatally weakened by the political and social crisis of the third century. This crisis, and the tendency of the Roman Empire to depend upon and encourage new sources of support, prepared the way for the emergence of Christianity, first as the religion of the Emperor, and then, after a period in which Christians and pagans were able to co-operate by emphasizing their common beliefs, as the official religion of the Empire.

Belief and Cult

Belief and Cult

Author: Jacob L. Mackey

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2022-08-02

Total Pages: 496

ISBN-13: 0691165084

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A groundbreaking reinterpretation that draws on cognitive theory to show that belief wasn’t absent from—but rather was at the heart of—Roman religion Belief and Cult argues that belief isn’t uniquely Christian but was central to ancient Roman religion. Drawing on cognitive theory, Jacob Mackey shows that despite having nothing to do with salvation or faith, belief underlay every aspect of Roman religious practices—emotions, individual and collective cult action, ritual norms, social reality, and social power. In doing so, he also offers a thorough argument for the importance of belief to other non-Christian religions. At the individual level, the book argues, belief played an indispensable role in the genesis of cult action and religious emotion. However, belief also had a collective dimension. The cognitive theory of Shared Intentionality shows how beliefs may be shared among individuals, accounting for the existence of written, unwritten, or even unspoken ritual norms. Shared beliefs permitted the choreography of collective cult action and gave cult acts their social meanings. The book also elucidates the role of shared belief in creating and maintaining Roman social reality. Shared belief allowed the Romans to endow agents, actions, and artifacts with socio-religious status and power. In a deep sense, no man could count as an augur and no act of animal slaughter as a successful offering to the gods, unless Romans collectively shared appropriate beliefs about these things. Closely examining augury, prayer, the religious enculturation of children, and the Romans’ own theories of cognition and cult, Belief and Cult promises to revolutionize the understanding of Roman religion by demonstrating that none of its features makes sense without Roman belief.


Book Synopsis Belief and Cult by : Jacob L. Mackey

Download or read book Belief and Cult written by Jacob L. Mackey and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2022-08-02 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A groundbreaking reinterpretation that draws on cognitive theory to show that belief wasn’t absent from—but rather was at the heart of—Roman religion Belief and Cult argues that belief isn’t uniquely Christian but was central to ancient Roman religion. Drawing on cognitive theory, Jacob Mackey shows that despite having nothing to do with salvation or faith, belief underlay every aspect of Roman religious practices—emotions, individual and collective cult action, ritual norms, social reality, and social power. In doing so, he also offers a thorough argument for the importance of belief to other non-Christian religions. At the individual level, the book argues, belief played an indispensable role in the genesis of cult action and religious emotion. However, belief also had a collective dimension. The cognitive theory of Shared Intentionality shows how beliefs may be shared among individuals, accounting for the existence of written, unwritten, or even unspoken ritual norms. Shared beliefs permitted the choreography of collective cult action and gave cult acts their social meanings. The book also elucidates the role of shared belief in creating and maintaining Roman social reality. Shared belief allowed the Romans to endow agents, actions, and artifacts with socio-religious status and power. In a deep sense, no man could count as an augur and no act of animal slaughter as a successful offering to the gods, unless Romans collectively shared appropriate beliefs about these things. Closely examining augury, prayer, the religious enculturation of children, and the Romans’ own theories of cognition and cult, Belief and Cult promises to revolutionize the understanding of Roman religion by demonstrating that none of its features makes sense without Roman belief.

Religions of Rome: Volume 2, A Sourcebook

Religions of Rome: Volume 2, A Sourcebook

Author: Mary Beard

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1998-06-28

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 9780521456463

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Volume two reveals the extraordinary diversity of ancient Roman religion. A comprehensive sourcebook, it presents a wide range of documents illustrating religious life in the Roman world - from the foundations of the city in the eighth century BC to the Christian capital more than a thousand years later. Each document is given a full introduction, explanatory notes and bibliography, and acts as a starting point for further discussion. Through paintings, sculptures, coins and inscriptions, as well as literary texts in translation, the book explores the major themes and problems of Roman religion, such as sacrifice, the religious calendar, divination, ritual, and priesthood. Starting from the archaeological traces of the earliest cults of the city, it finishes with a series of texts in which Roman authors themselves reflect on the nature of their own religion, its history, even its funny side. Judaism and Christianity are given full coverage, as important elements in the religious world of the Roman empire.


Book Synopsis Religions of Rome: Volume 2, A Sourcebook by : Mary Beard

Download or read book Religions of Rome: Volume 2, A Sourcebook written by Mary Beard and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1998-06-28 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Volume two reveals the extraordinary diversity of ancient Roman religion. A comprehensive sourcebook, it presents a wide range of documents illustrating religious life in the Roman world - from the foundations of the city in the eighth century BC to the Christian capital more than a thousand years later. Each document is given a full introduction, explanatory notes and bibliography, and acts as a starting point for further discussion. Through paintings, sculptures, coins and inscriptions, as well as literary texts in translation, the book explores the major themes and problems of Roman religion, such as sacrifice, the religious calendar, divination, ritual, and priesthood. Starting from the archaeological traces of the earliest cults of the city, it finishes with a series of texts in which Roman authors themselves reflect on the nature of their own religion, its history, even its funny side. Judaism and Christianity are given full coverage, as important elements in the religious world of the Roman empire.

Religion in the Roman Empire

Religion in the Roman Empire

Author: James B. Rives

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Published: 2006-06-12

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1405106565

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This book provides an engaging, systematic introduction to religion in the Roman empire. Covers both mainstream Graeco-Roman religion and regional religious traditions, from Egypt to Western Europe Examines the shared assumptions and underlying dynamics that characterized religious life as a whole Draws on a wide range of primary material, both textual and visual, from literary works, inscriptions and monuments Offers insight into the religious world in which contemporary rabbinic Judaism and Christianity both had their origin


Book Synopsis Religion in the Roman Empire by : James B. Rives

Download or read book Religion in the Roman Empire written by James B. Rives and published by Wiley-Blackwell. This book was released on 2006-06-12 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides an engaging, systematic introduction to religion in the Roman empire. Covers both mainstream Graeco-Roman religion and regional religious traditions, from Egypt to Western Europe Examines the shared assumptions and underlying dynamics that characterized religious life as a whole Draws on a wide range of primary material, both textual and visual, from literary works, inscriptions and monuments Offers insight into the religious world in which contemporary rabbinic Judaism and Christianity both had their origin

Reassembling Religion in Roman Italy

Reassembling Religion in Roman Italy

Author: Emma-Jayne Graham

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-11-09

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 1351982443

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This book examines the ways in which lived religion in Roman Italy involved personal and communal experiences of the religious agency generated when ritualised activities caused human and more-than-human things to become bundled together into relational assemblages. Drawing upon broadly posthumanist and new materialist theories concerning the thingliness of things, it sets out to re-evaluate the role of the material world within Roman religion and to offer new perspectives on the formation of multi-scalar forms of ancient religious knowledge. It explores what happens when a materially informed approach is systematically applied to the investigation of typical questions about Roman religion such as: What did Romans understand ‘religion’ to mean? What did religious experiences allow people to understand about the material world and their own place within it? How were experiences of ritual connected with shared beliefs or concepts about the relationship between the mortal and divine worlds? How was divinity constructed and perceived? To answer these questions, it gathers and evaluates archaeological evidence associated with a series of case studies. Each of these focuses on a key component of the ritualised assemblages shown to have produced Roman religious agency – place, objects, bodies, and divinity – and centres on an examination of experiences of lived religion as it related to the contexts of monumentalised sanctuaries, cult instruments used in public sacrifice, anatomical votive offerings, cult images and the qualities of divinity, and magic as a situationally specific form of religious knowledge. By breaking down and then reconstructing the ritualised assemblages that generated and sustained Roman religion, this book makes the case for adopting a material approach to the study of ancient lived religion.


Book Synopsis Reassembling Religion in Roman Italy by : Emma-Jayne Graham

Download or read book Reassembling Religion in Roman Italy written by Emma-Jayne Graham and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-11-09 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the ways in which lived religion in Roman Italy involved personal and communal experiences of the religious agency generated when ritualised activities caused human and more-than-human things to become bundled together into relational assemblages. Drawing upon broadly posthumanist and new materialist theories concerning the thingliness of things, it sets out to re-evaluate the role of the material world within Roman religion and to offer new perspectives on the formation of multi-scalar forms of ancient religious knowledge. It explores what happens when a materially informed approach is systematically applied to the investigation of typical questions about Roman religion such as: What did Romans understand ‘religion’ to mean? What did religious experiences allow people to understand about the material world and their own place within it? How were experiences of ritual connected with shared beliefs or concepts about the relationship between the mortal and divine worlds? How was divinity constructed and perceived? To answer these questions, it gathers and evaluates archaeological evidence associated with a series of case studies. Each of these focuses on a key component of the ritualised assemblages shown to have produced Roman religious agency – place, objects, bodies, and divinity – and centres on an examination of experiences of lived religion as it related to the contexts of monumentalised sanctuaries, cult instruments used in public sacrifice, anatomical votive offerings, cult images and the qualities of divinity, and magic as a situationally specific form of religious knowledge. By breaking down and then reconstructing the ritualised assemblages that generated and sustained Roman religion, this book makes the case for adopting a material approach to the study of ancient lived religion.

Roman Religion

Roman Religion

Author: Clifford Ando

Publisher:

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 424

ISBN-13:

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Historiography and method -- Religious institutions and religious authority -- Ritual and myth -- Theology -- Roman and alien -- Continuity and change from Republic to Empire.


Book Synopsis Roman Religion by : Clifford Ando

Download or read book Roman Religion written by Clifford Ando and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historiography and method -- Religious institutions and religious authority -- Ritual and myth -- Theology -- Roman and alien -- Continuity and change from Republic to Empire.