Overview

The Religious History of the Roman Empire: The Republican Centuries is the second Oxford Readings in Classical Studies volume on the religious history of the Roman Empire, accompanying the volume on paganism, Judaism, and Christianity. This volume presents fourteen chapters dealing with aspects of the religious life of Republican Rome between c. 500 BCE and the fall of the Republican constitution in c. 30 BCE. The topics covered include Iron Age rituals (Christopher Smith); Roman Priesthood (John Scheid; Mary Beard); religion and war (Jörg Rüpke); religious behaviour in the context of polytheism (Andreas Bendlin); religious ritual in early and middle Republic (John North); Italian warfare practices (Olivier de Cazanove); the role of women (Rebecca Flemming); sacrificial ritual in Roman poetry (Denis Feeney); the centuriation-ritual (Daniel Gargola); Roman divination (Mary Beard); Augustan Peace and the stars (Alfred Schmid); the great cult-places of Italy (John Scheid); the grove of Pesaro (Filippo Coarelli). Originally published between 1981 and 2011, these chapters provide a vivid picture of key issues under discussion in this period, providing a missing link in the historiography of Roman republican religion. A central question concerns the balance to be found between ritual and belief, both problematic concepts in interpreting this religious tradition. While there can be no question that the performance of rituals was a regular traditional activity to which Romans attached great significance, particularly those who were in a responsible position as priests or senators, the later years of the Republic increasingly saw religious issues taken as matters for debate, and books on religious themes, unknown before the age of Cicero and Varro, began to appear.

Full Product Details

Author:   J. A. North (Emeritus Professor, Emeritus Professor, University College London)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
Imprint:   Oxford University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 14.70cm , Height: 2.80cm , Length: 22.30cm
Weight:   0.636kg
ISBN:  

9780199644063

ISBN 10:   0199644063
Pages:   418
Publication Date:   12 May 2023
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
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Table of Contents

1: Christopher Smith: Dead Dogs and Rattles: Time, Space, and Ritual Sacrifice in Iron Age Latium 2: John Scheid: The Priest and the Magistrate: Reflections on the Priesthoods and Public Law at the End of the Republic 3: Mary Beard: Acca Larentia Gains a Son: Myths and Priesthood 4: Jörg Rüpke: Religion and War: On the relationship of a society's religious and political systems 5: Andreas Bendlin: Not the One nor the Many; A Pragmatic Approach to Religious Behaviour in a Polytheistic Society: The Example of Rome 6: John North: Action and Ritual in Roman Historians: Or How Horatius Held the Door-Post 7: Olivier de Cazanove: Rites and Practices of Warfare in Italy between Romans and Samnites: Going under the Yoke and the Samnite Legio Linteata 8: Rebecca Flemming: Festus and the Role of Women in Roman Religion 9: Denis Feeney: Interpreting Sacrificial Ritual in Roman Poetry: Disciplines and their Models 10: Daniel Gargola: The Ritual of Centuriation: Frontinus, Hyginus Gromaticus and Centuriation 11: Filippo Coarelli: The Lucus Pisaurensis and the Romanisation of the Ager Gallicus 12: Filippo Coarelli: Rome and the Great Places of Worship in Italy 13: Mary Beard: Cicero and Divination. The Formation of a Latin Discourse 14: Alfred Schmid: The Peace of Augustus, The Equinox and the Centre of the World

Reviews

The volume captures a moment in time in the debates on Roman Republican religion, and while some aspects of that moment are regrettable, other aspects are very much to be appreciated for moving the discourse to the place where it is now. Scholars of Roman religion have much work to do and much to look forward to. It is a delight to think about what the next volume of collected articles along these lines might look like. * Eric Orlin, Classical Review *

Author Information

J.A. North taught Greek and Roman History in the Department of History at UCL, from 1963, and became Professor and Head of Department in 1992. He retired as Emeritus Professor in 2003. From 2014 to 2016, North was the Director of the Institute of Classical Studies. From an early stage in his career, North's research centred on the Religious History of Rome from the early Republic onwards; later, on the relations between pagan religious society under the Empire and the emergence of the Christian religion; more recently still, on the religious activities of Roman slaves and freed slaves.

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