On Roman Religion: Lived Religion and the Individual in Ancient Rome

209 Pages·2016·1.34 MB·English

by  Jörg Rüpke

On Roman Religion
A volume in the series
Townsend Lectures/Cornell Studies in Classical Philology
Edited by
Frederick M. Ahl, Annetta Alexandridis, Theodore R. Brennan,
Charles F. Brittain, Gail Fine, Michael Fontaine, Kim Haines-Eitzen,
David P. Mankin, Sturt W. Manning, Alan J. Nussbaum,
Hayden N. Pelliccia, Verity Platt, Éric Rebillard,
Jeffrey S. Rusten, Barry S. Strauss, Michael Weiss
A list of titles in this series is available at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu.
On Roman Religion
Lived Religion and the Individual
in Ancient Rome
Jörg Rüpke
Cornell University Press
Ithaca and London
Copyright © 2016 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or
parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in
writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University
Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.
First published 2016 by Cornell University Press
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Rüpke, Jörg, author.
Title: On Roman religion : lived religion and the individual in ancient
Rome / Jörg Rüpke.
Other titles: Cornell studies in classical philology. Townsend lectures
Description: Ithaca ; London : Cornell University Press, 2016. |
Series: Townsend lectures/Cornell studies in classical philology |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifers: LCCN 2016017486 | ISBN 9781501704703 (cloth : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Religion—Social aspects—Rome. | Rome—Religion. |
Experience (Religion)—History.
Classifcation: LCC BL803 .R84 2016 | DDC 292.07—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016017486
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Cloth printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Cover illustration: Silvanus relief. Roman deity of the woods and felds.
Photo credit: bpk, Berlin/Antikensammlung, Staatliche Museen/Ingrid
Geske/Art Resource, NY.
To Richard Gordon,
colleague, teacher, and friend
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. Individual Appropriation of Religion 8
2. Individual Decision and Social Order 26
3. Appropriating Images—Embodying Gods 42
4. Testing the Limits of Ritual Choices 64
5. Reconstructing Religious Experience 80
6. Dynamics of Individual Appropriation 97
7. Religious Communication 121
8. I nstructing Literary Practice in The Shepherd of
Hermas 139
Conclusion 158
vi i i Contents
Bibliography 161
General Index 189
Index of Passages 195
Acknowledgments
The publication of the Townsend Lectures is a wonderful opportunity
to thank my hosts, the Department of Classics at Cornell University, and
above all its chair at the time of my visit, Charles Brittain, and my per-
sonal hosts, Eric and Suzanne Rebillard. I am also grateful to all the mem-
bers of the department and students in the seminar who engaged with my
ideas and critically discussed methods and evidence: Annetta Alexandri-
dis, Ben Anderson, Tad Brennan, Caitlín Barrett, Nicole Giannella, Kim
Haines-Eitzen, Sturt Manning, Hayden Pellicia, Verity Platt, Pietro Pucci,
Courtney Roby, Barry Strauss, and Michael Weiss. Last but not least, I am
grateful to Katrina S. Neff, who managed all the administrative arrange-
ments related to my visit. I remember with gratitude the wonderful atmo-
sphere and the many compelling conversations, in addition to the hours
left free for working on my notes and revising my arguments.
Even cursory readers will note that the thrust and details of my ear-
lier arguments have developed signifcantly. The book has benefted
from subsequent discussion with further colleagues, above all in the ever