In this Book
- The Matter of the Gods: Religion and the Roman Empire
- Book
- 2008
- Published by: University of California Press
- Series: Transformation of the Classical Heritage
summary
What did the Romans know about their gods? Why did they perform the rituals of their religion, and what motivated them to change those rituals? To these questions Clifford Ando proposes simple answers: In contrast to ancient Christians, who had faith, Romans had knowledge, and their knowledge was empirical in orientation. In other words, the Romans acquired knowledge of the gods through observation of the world, and their rituals were maintained or modified in light of what they learned. After a preface and opening chapters that lay out this argument about knowledge and place it in context, The Matter of the Gods pursues a variety of themes essential to the study of religion in history.
Table of Contents
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- Title Page, Copyright
- pp. i-viii
- Acknowledgments
- pp. xxi-xxii
- Abbreviations
- pp. xxiii-xxvi
- Part One. The Limits of Orthopraxy
- 2. Idols and Their Critics
- pp. 21-42
- 3. Interpretatio Romana
- pp. 43-58
- 4. Religion and Ius Publicum
- pp. 59-92
- Part Two: Gods of the Far-Flung Empire
- 5. A Religion for the Empire
- pp. 95-119
- 6. Religion and Imperialism at Rome
- pp. 120-148
- 7. The Palladium and the Pentateuch
- pp. 149-198
- Bibliography
- pp. 199-220
- General Index
- pp. 221-224
- Index Locorum
- pp. 225-239
- Production Notes
- p. 240
Additional Information
ISBN
9780520933651
Related ISBN(s)
9780520250833
MARC Record
OCLC
711617039
Pages
270
Launched on MUSE
2014-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No