Pilgrimage in Graeco-Roman and Early Christian Antiquity: Seeing the Gods (review)

The seventeen contributions to this volume are divided into three broad categories covering the Classical and Hellenistic period, the Roman Empire, and Jewish and Christian pilgrimage. In “Mapping out Communitas: Performances of Theōria in their Sacred and Political Context,” Barbara Kowalzig explores the nature of the theoretic cults (in which the god is “seen”) as an alternative form of social organization that both complements and challenges political groupings. The performative aspect of these cults, which take place in the context of visiting representatives from other cities (hence “pilgrimage”), is a means by which inter-polis contact is forged. Fred Naiden, “Hiketai and Theōria at Epidaurus,” contrasts the Greek notion of the hiketēs (the one who arrives at a healing shrine to request healing) and the theōros (the one who attends a healing shrine ritual as a delegate on behalf of a particular polis). He uses a cross-cultural comparison between Greco-Roman and Latin American pilgrimage, although only briefly and not to much effect; the essay would stand without this excursion. In “Pilgrimage to the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi: Patterns of Public and Private Consultation,” Michael Arnush seeks to explain the political marginalization of the Delphic oracle not as the result of a single event, but rather a sequence of events from the Peloponnesian War to Alexander of Macedon, which “thus eliminated the presence of politically motivated pilgrims” (p. 98). In his view, it was Delphi in particular, rather than oracles in general, that was no longer considered a factor in political matters, since the political center of the Greek world was shifting.

The first three essays spend considerable time justifying the use of the designation “pilgrimage” for classical Greek practices, despite the seemingly inherent Christian implications of the term. In the fourth essay, “‘Pilgrimage’ and Greek Religion: Sacred and Secular in the Pagan Polis,” Scott Scullion presents the alternative case in a convincing and refreshing manner, arguing “that the term and concept ‘pilgrimage’ are misleading rather than illuminating in their application to Greek practice, and should therefore be used, if at all, only with explicit and thorough qualification” (p. 111). Despite this caveat, the remaining essays continue to employ a wide-ranging definition of “pilgrimage.”

Ian Rutherford’s “Downstream to the Cat-Goddess: Herodotus on Egyptian Pilgrimage” supports the notion of pilgrimage in the Hellenistic and Roman world with specific reference to the worship of Egyptian gods at various sanctuaries along the Nile. In chapter 6, “The Philosopher at the Festival: Plato’s Transformation of Traditional Theōria,” Andrea Wilson-Nightingale raises to the notion of theōria with particular reference to its use in philosophical activity. In such cases, “the philosophic appropriation of civic theōria—first found in Plato—aimed to ground theoretical philosophers in the world of social and political practice” (p. 152).

Turning to pilgrimage in the Roman Empire, Alexia Petsalis-Diomidis, “The Body in Space: Visual Dynamics in Graeco-Roman Healing Pilgrimage,” argues that architectural transformations and the Lex Sacra at the Asklepieion of Pergamon significantly impacted the individual and communal experiences of those who journeyed to the site for healing during the second century CE. George Williamson’s essay returns to the notion of defining “pilgrimage” with a focus on a first century politician: “Mucianus and a Touch of the Miraculous: Pilgrimage and Tourism in Roman Asia Minor.” He argues that a strict division between travel for the purpose of political business, tourism, and spiritual quest cannot easily be separated and that Mucianus’ life reflects this intermingling. It is a well-constructed argument, and one that presents a picture of travel that is perhaps closer to the mark than other essays in terms of what may and may not constitute pilgrimage.

In “Pilgrimage as Elite Habitus: Educated Pilgrims in Sacred Landscape during the Second Sophistic,” Marco Galli applies a socio-functionalist approach alongside a Freudian understanding of memory...