Vestal Virgins, Sibyls, and Matrons: Women in Roman Religion

Acknowledgments

acknowledgments his book grew out of a discussion with Peg Fulton at an American Philological Association Meeting many years ago. At one point, as it happens with many projects, it took a different turn. Instead of becoming a general book on Roman women, it became an inquiry into Roman religion and women’s roles in it. I would like to thank my students at Harvard and Rutgers University, who attended my courses on Roman women, women in antiquity, Greco-Roman religion, and Roman civilization. Their questions and comments made me rethink more than one explanation. The generosity of the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung and the welcome atmosphere of the Seminar für Alte Geschichte Heidelberg gave me the opportunity to start working on this book. I continued it at the Center for Hellenic Studies in Washington, D.C., and finished it at my present academic home, Rutgers University. My heartfelt thanks go to Professor Jack Cargill, who read the finished manuscript carefully and made me think anew, Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Géza Alföldy, Professor Dr. Jens-Uwe Krause, Dr. Eftychia Stavrianopoulou, Professor Dr. Christian Witschel, Professor Gregory Nagy, and the Center for Hellenic Studies’ dedicated library staff for all their assistance. Harvard University supported my endeavor with a Harvard Junior Faculty Grant and the Harvard AIDE program. My Harvard research assistants Dr. Mary DiLucia, Mr. Walton Green, and Ms. Deborah Sternlight, and especially my Rutgers University “knight in shining armor,” Mr. Andriy Fomin, and Mr. David Danbeck deserve my gratitude for their unceasing help as do the anonymous readers and the copyeditor, Nancy Moore, and members of my family on this and the other side of the Atlantic. I dedicate this book to all of them. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick, NJ Summer 2006 T THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK ...