Eric Orlin
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199731558
- eISBN:
- 9780199866342
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199731558.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, World History: BCE to 500CE
This study of the Roman reaction to foreign cults explores how religion contributed to the Romans’ need to reshape their community and their sense of what it meant to be Roman in the wake of Roman ...
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This study of the Roman reaction to foreign cults explores how religion contributed to the Romans’ need to reshape their community and their sense of what it meant to be Roman in the wake of Roman expansion from a single city to the dominant power in the Mediterranean basin. Roman religion is a particularly useful field within which to study Roman self-definition, for the Romans considered themselves to be the most religious of all peoples and ascribed their imperial success to their religiosity. The Romans were remarkably open to outside influences, installing foreign religious elements as part of their own religious system. However, the inclusion of so many foreign elements posed difficulties for maintaining a clear notion of what it meant to be Roman, and those difficulties became acute at the very moment when a territorial definition of Romanness was becoming obsolete. Using models drawn from anthropology, this book demonstrates that Roman religious activity beginning in the middle Republic (early third century b.c.e.) contributed to redrawing the boundaries of Romanness, allowing the Romans to maintain a clear sense of identity that could include the peoples they had conquered, especially the communities of Roman Italy. The book concludes with a brief look at the reforms of the first emperor Augustus, whose actions laid the foundation for further developments under the Empire.Less
This study of the Roman reaction to foreign cults explores how religion contributed to the Romans’ need to reshape their community and their sense of what it meant to be Roman in the wake of Roman expansion from a single city to the dominant power in the Mediterranean basin. Roman religion is a particularly useful field within which to study Roman self-definition, for the Romans considered themselves to be the most religious of all peoples and ascribed their imperial success to their religiosity. The Romans were remarkably open to outside influences, installing foreign religious elements as part of their own religious system. However, the inclusion of so many foreign elements posed difficulties for maintaining a clear notion of what it meant to be Roman, and those difficulties became acute at the very moment when a territorial definition of Romanness was becoming obsolete. Using models drawn from anthropology, this book demonstrates that Roman religious activity beginning in the middle Republic (early third century b.c.e.) contributed to redrawing the boundaries of Romanness, allowing the Romans to maintain a clear sense of identity that could include the peoples they had conquered, especially the communities of Roman Italy. The book concludes with a brief look at the reforms of the first emperor Augustus, whose actions laid the foundation for further developments under the Empire.
Craige B. Champion
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780691174853
- eISBN:
- 9781400885152
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691174853.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
This chapter discusses the origins of elite-instrumentalist interpretations of Roman religion by Greek and Roman writers, and how it persists in recent scholarship. It uses a particular “time map,” ...
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This chapter discusses the origins of elite-instrumentalist interpretations of Roman religion by Greek and Roman writers, and how it persists in recent scholarship. It uses a particular “time map,” spanning the period from approximately the second quarter of the third century—leading to Rome's first titanic conflict with Carthage—to the aftermath of the Gracchan revolution. The chapter first provides an overview of the so-called “polis religion,” the focus of the modern study of Roman religion, describing it as a form of elite-instrumentalism. It then considers the elite-instrumentalist interpretation/model, its history, and its paradoxical longevity in order to understand how the Roman ruling elite used religion in the Middle Republic. It also examines some of the main features of elite religion in the Middle Roman Republic. Finally, it introduces definitions, parameters, and theoretical/methodological underpinnings for the chapters that follow.Less
This chapter discusses the origins of elite-instrumentalist interpretations of Roman religion by Greek and Roman writers, and how it persists in recent scholarship. It uses a particular “time map,” spanning the period from approximately the second quarter of the third century—leading to Rome's first titanic conflict with Carthage—to the aftermath of the Gracchan revolution. The chapter first provides an overview of the so-called “polis religion,” the focus of the modern study of Roman religion, describing it as a form of elite-instrumentalism. It then considers the elite-instrumentalist interpretation/model, its history, and its paradoxical longevity in order to understand how the Roman ruling elite used religion in the Middle Republic. It also examines some of the main features of elite religion in the Middle Roman Republic. Finally, it introduces definitions, parameters, and theoretical/methodological underpinnings for the chapters that follow.
Neil Coffee
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190496432
- eISBN:
- 9780190496456
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190496432.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter compares the perspectives on gift and commerce presented by two comic playwrights, Plautus, writing at the beginning of the middle Republic, and Terence, writing toward the end of the ...
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This chapter compares the perspectives on gift and commerce presented by two comic playwrights, Plautus, writing at the beginning of the middle Republic, and Terence, writing toward the end of the period. Both wrote for broad audiences and so offer views of what a wider range of Romans might have thought. The comedies of Plautus give evidence of a flexible conception of gift and gain like that found in Cato and Ennius, where the pitfalls of gift giving can be seen, as well as an appeal to the virtues of sound and fair commerce. Terence is the first Roman author to use a key word for generosity, liberalitas, and his usage shows its continuing roots in the concept of a social and emotional relationship. He puts a greater emphasis on exchange relationships as part of a social hierarchy, which shows the movement toward a conception of liberalitas as an particularly elite quality, as it was understood in the late Republic.Less
This chapter compares the perspectives on gift and commerce presented by two comic playwrights, Plautus, writing at the beginning of the middle Republic, and Terence, writing toward the end of the period. Both wrote for broad audiences and so offer views of what a wider range of Romans might have thought. The comedies of Plautus give evidence of a flexible conception of gift and gain like that found in Cato and Ennius, where the pitfalls of gift giving can be seen, as well as an appeal to the virtues of sound and fair commerce. Terence is the first Roman author to use a key word for generosity, liberalitas, and his usage shows its continuing roots in the concept of a social and emotional relationship. He puts a greater emphasis on exchange relationships as part of a social hierarchy, which shows the movement toward a conception of liberalitas as an particularly elite quality, as it was understood in the late Republic.
G. O. Hutchinson
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- August 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198821717
- eISBN:
- 9780191860928
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198821717.003.0007
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Prose and Writers: Classical, Early, and Medieval, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter offers another passage of summary, but here not in exalted style. Rather, Plutarch uses the medium of a supposed inscription to show the Roman people’s appreciation of Cato the Elder’s ...
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This chapter offers another passage of summary, but here not in exalted style. Rather, Plutarch uses the medium of a supposed inscription to show the Roman people’s appreciation of Cato the Elder’s censorship, and his moral rescue of the Roman res publica. The historicity of the inscription is extremely doubtful; but the passage shows a fruitful interaction between the austere moral ethos of the Middle Republic (as restored by Cato) and the rich and stylish eloquence of Greek Imperial prose. The passage is not mere hagiography: Cato’s stance on statues has changed. The passage moves away from dense rhythm into a witty and irresistible mot.Less
This chapter offers another passage of summary, but here not in exalted style. Rather, Plutarch uses the medium of a supposed inscription to show the Roman people’s appreciation of Cato the Elder’s censorship, and his moral rescue of the Roman res publica. The historicity of the inscription is extremely doubtful; but the passage shows a fruitful interaction between the austere moral ethos of the Middle Republic (as restored by Cato) and the rich and stylish eloquence of Greek Imperial prose. The passage is not mere hagiography: Cato’s stance on statues has changed. The passage moves away from dense rhythm into a witty and irresistible mot.
