- Title Pages
- Acknowledgments
- Note to the Reader
- Abbreviations
- [UNTITLED]
- Introduction: Religion, Law and Knowledge in Classical Rome
- Introduction to Part I: Historiography and Method
- 1 On Comparison<sup>†</sup>
- 2 Polis-<i>Religion and its Alternatives in the Roman Provinces</i><sup>†</sup>
- Introduction to Part II: Religious Institutions and Religious Authority
- 3 From Republic to Principate:<sup>†</sup> Priesthood, Religion and Ideology*
- 4 <i>A Feature of Roman Religion</i><sup>†</sup>
- Introduction to Part II: Ritual and Myth
- 5 <i>The</i> Ludi Saeculares <i>and the</i> Carmen Saeculare<sup>†</sup>
- 6 Cults, Myths, and Politics at the Beginning of the Empire<sup>†</sup>
- Introduction to Part IV: Theology
- 7 The Theological Efforts of the Roman Upper Classes in the First Century BC<sup>†</sup>
- 8 Hierarchy and Structure in Roman Polytheism: Roman Methods of Conceiving Action<sup>†</sup>
- Introduction to Part V: Roman and Alien
- 9 Religious Toleration in Republican Rome<sup>†</sup>
- 10 A Religion for the Empire<sup>†</sup>
- Introduction to Part VI: Space and Time
- 11 Loca Sancta<sup>†</sup>
- 12 A Complex of Times: No More Sheep on Romulus’ Birthday<sup>†</sup><sup>1</sup>
- Introduction to Part VII: Continuity and Change, from Republic to Empire
- 13 Roman State Religion in the Mirror of Augustan and Late Republican Apologetics<sup>†</sup>
- 14 The Historical Development of Roman Religion: An Overview<sup>†</sup>
- Chronology
- Biographical Dictionary
- Glossary
- Guide to Further Reading
- Bibliography
- Index
Introduction: Religion, Law and Knowledge in Classical Rome
Introduction: Religion, Law and Knowledge in Classical Rome
- Chapter:
- (p.1) Introduction: Religion, Law and Knowledge in Classical Rome
- Source:
- Roman Religion
- Author(s):
Clifford Ando
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
This chapter concentrates on the epistemology of the religion of Rome, arguing that this basis by its very nature conditions the manner in which Roman religion can be studied, and considers further problems of theory and practice. It begins by reflecting on the translation of religio. ‘Religion’ is but one possible rendering, and Valerius Maximus's lists suggest that it might here be rendered more accurately by ‘the sum total of current cult practice’. It is not that ‘religion’ does not capture the force of religio in one of its uses, but that this usage is not primary, and its field proves harder to map onto ‘religion’ than one might expect. Consider the description of the religio of the Roman people offered by Gaius Aurelius Cotta, the Academic pontifex, in the opening pages of Marcus Tullius Cicero's On the Nature of the Gods.
Keywords: epistemology, religion, Rome, theory, practice, religio, Valerius Maximus, cult, Gaius Aurelius Cotta, Marcus Tullius Cicero
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- Title Pages
- Acknowledgments
- Note to the Reader
- Abbreviations
- [UNTITLED]
- Introduction: Religion, Law and Knowledge in Classical Rome
- Introduction to Part I: Historiography and Method
- 1 On Comparison<sup>†</sup>
- 2 Polis-<i>Religion and its Alternatives in the Roman Provinces</i><sup>†</sup>
- Introduction to Part II: Religious Institutions and Religious Authority
- 3 From Republic to Principate:<sup>†</sup> Priesthood, Religion and Ideology*
- 4 <i>A Feature of Roman Religion</i><sup>†</sup>
- Introduction to Part II: Ritual and Myth
- 5 <i>The</i> Ludi Saeculares <i>and the</i> Carmen Saeculare<sup>†</sup>
- 6 Cults, Myths, and Politics at the Beginning of the Empire<sup>†</sup>
- Introduction to Part IV: Theology
- 7 The Theological Efforts of the Roman Upper Classes in the First Century BC<sup>†</sup>
- 8 Hierarchy and Structure in Roman Polytheism: Roman Methods of Conceiving Action<sup>†</sup>
- Introduction to Part V: Roman and Alien
- 9 Religious Toleration in Republican Rome<sup>†</sup>
- 10 A Religion for the Empire<sup>†</sup>
- Introduction to Part VI: Space and Time
- 11 Loca Sancta<sup>†</sup>
- 12 A Complex of Times: No More Sheep on Romulus’ Birthday<sup>†</sup><sup>1</sup>
- Introduction to Part VII: Continuity and Change, from Republic to Empire
- 13 Roman State Religion in the Mirror of Augustan and Late Republican Apologetics<sup>†</sup>
- 14 The Historical Development of Roman Religion: An Overview<sup>†</sup>
- Chronology
- Biographical Dictionary
- Glossary
- Guide to Further Reading
- Bibliography
- Index
