An Introduction to Roman Religion

241 Pages·2003·49.354 MB·English

by  John Scheid

An Introduction to
Roman Religion
Thisbookisdedicatedtothosewhofirstsawittakingshape.
An Introduction to
Roman Religion
John Scheid
Translated by Janet Lloyd
Edinburgh University Press
First published in English 2003 by
Edinburgh University Press Ltd
22 GeorgeSquare,Edinburgh
Translation # Janet Lloyd,2003
Transferred to Digital Print 2010
First published in Franceas La religion des Romans
# Armand Colin/Masson, Paris, 1998
Typeset in Bembo and CenturyGothic
by Bibliocraft Ltd, Dundee
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne
ACIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 0 7486 1607 1 (hardback)
ISBN 0 7486 1608 X(paperback)
The right of JohnScheid
to be identified as author of thiswork
has been asserted in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs andPatents Act 1988.
CONTENTS
List of text boxes vii
Publisher’s acknowledgement viii
Introduction 1
PART 1 QUESTIONSOF METHODOLOGY
Chapter 1 Problems and problematics 5
Chapter 2 Definitions, concepts, difficulties 18
Chapter 3 Ritual and its formulations 30
PART II STRUCTURES
Chapter 4 The division of time: calendars, rituals, regular
festivals 41
Chapter 5 Thedivision of space:temples, sanctuaries and
other sacred places 60
PART III RELIGIOUS RITUALS
Chapter 6 Sacrifice 79
Chapter 7 Auspices and rituals of divination 111
PART IV THE ACTORS
Chapter 8 Priestly figures 129
Chapter 9 The double life of the Roman gods 147
PART V EXEGESESAND SPECULATIONS
Chapter 10 Interpretations of Roman religion 173
Chronology 193
Principal people 213
Glossary 216
Further reading 219
Index 226

LISTOFTEXTBOXES
Some perspectives that, for many years, determined
the modern view of Roman religion 6
Definitions of religion 20
Impiety according to the Romans 27
Examples of the decoding of ritual actions and
gestures 33
The natural year according to Eudoxus of Cnidus
and Varro 43
The principal Roman civic calendars 45
An account of a public sacrifice 86
Two private sacrifices 92
Auguries and auspices 114
The public priests of Rome under the Republic 134
The public priests of Rome under the Empire 136
A selection of the public Roman deities 155
Diui and diuae who received cults in Rome 160
PUBLISHER’S ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Edinburgh University Press wish to thank Lady Lloyd for
translating the book, Dr Mary Beard for her work in prepar-
ing the book for English-speaking readers, the author for his
help during both processes, and the French Ministry of
Culture for the award of a subvention towards the cost of
translation.
Introduction
Roman religion does not speak for itself, although we might
imagine that it did. Rome is no more, and its culture and
religion long dead, but we still use the same religious
vocabulary. ‘Religion’, ‘piety’, ‘deity’, ‘sacrifice’, ‘ritual’,
superstition’, ‘temple’ and ‘altar’ are all words that have
survived down the centuries. That continuity alone seems
to guarantee that no misunderstanding is possible.
Yet this apparent closeness to us masks many differences.
Western culture may still today be the legacy of Rome, but
thatdoes notmean thattheRomanswerejust likeourselves.
Onmanypoints,inparticularreligion,theRomanswerevery
differentfromus.Besides,eventheterm‘theRomans’covers
amultitudeofpeople,identitiesandcultures.What,afterall,
was a Roman? A citizen of Rome itself or of Latium? And in
whatperiod?AtthetimeofthePunicWars,atthebeginning
of the common era, or under the Empire? The cultural
identity of a ‘Roman’ differed from one period to another.
From the first century BC onward, he might have been a
native of a city in Italy – a city in Umbria, Etruria or Magna
Graecia – and soon even of a city overseas. Under the
Empire, there were ‘Romans’ throughout the Roman world;
some were descended from emigrants from Rome and Italy,
others were naturalised foreigners (peregrini). Did they all
share the same culture? Nor should we forget that Roman
citizens represented a definite minority of the inhabitants of
the Roman world. Up until the first century BC even most of
the free inhabitants of Italy were excluded from full citizen-
ship,andonlyinAD212didallfreeperegrinibecomeRoman
citizens.And,ofcourse,alltheseextensionsofcitizenshipdid