Cornell University Press
On Roman Religion: Lived Religion and the Individual in Ancient Rome
Key Metrics
- J�rg R�pke
- Cornell University Press
- Paperback
- 9781501735110
- 9.02 X 5.98 X 0.48 inches
- 0.69 pounds
- History > Ancient - Rome
- English
Secure TransactionBook Description
Was religious practice in ancient Rome cultic and hostile to individual expression? Or was there, rather, considerable latitude for individual initiative and creativity? J�rg R�pke, one of the world's leading authorities on Roman religion, demonstrates in his new book that it was a lived religion with individual appropriations evident at the heart of such rituals as praying, dedicating, making vows, and reading. On Roman Religion definitively dismantles previous approaches that depicted religious practice as uniform and static. Juxtaposing very different, strategic, and even subversive forms of individuality with traditions, their normative claims, and their institutional protections, R�pke highlights the dynamic character of Rome's religious institutions and traditions.
In R�pke's view, lived ancient religion is as much about variations or even outright deviance as it is about attempts and failures to establish or change rules and roles and to communicate them via priesthoods, practices related to images or classified as magic, and literary practices. R�pke analyzes observations of religious experience by contemporary authors including Propertius, Ovid, and the author of the Shepherd of Hermas. These authors, in very different ways, reflect on individual appropriation of religion among their contemporaries, and they offer these reflections to their readership or audiences. R�pke also concentrates on the ways in which literary texts and inscriptions informed the practice of rituals.
Author Bio
Jörg Rüpke is vice-director and permanent fellow in religious studies at the Max Weber Center for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies at the University of Erfurt, Germany, and has been a visiting professor at the Collège de France, Princeton University, and the University of Chicago. His many books include On Roman Religion and From Jupiter to Christ.
In January 2012, Rüpke was appointed by German Federal President Christian Wulff to the German Council of Science and Humanities.
Source: Princeton University Press
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