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Was religious practice in ancient Rome cultic and hostile to individual expression? Or was there, rather, considerable latitude for individual initiative and creativity? Jörg Rüpke, 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, Rüpke highlights the dynamic character of Rome’s religious institutions and traditions.
In Rüpke’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. Rüpke 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. Rüpke also concentrates on the ways in which literary texts and inscriptions informed the practice of rituals.
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On Roman Religion
A volume in the series Townsend Lectures/Cornell Studies in Classical Philology
Edited by Frederick M. Ahl, Annetta Alexandridis, Theodore R. Brennan, Charles F. Brittain, Gail Fine, Michael Fontaine, Kim Haines-Eitzen, David P. Mankin, Sturt W. Manning, Alan J. Nussbaum, Hayden N. Pelliccia, Verity Platt, Éric Rebillard, Jeffrey S. Rusten, Barry S. Strauss, Michael Weiss A list of titles in this series is available at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu.
On Roman Religion Lived Religion and the Individual in Ancient Rome
Jörg Rüpke
Cornell University Press Ithaca and London
Copyright © 2016 by Cornell University All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850. First published 2016 by Cornell University Press Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Rüpke, Jörg, author. Title: On Roman religion : lived religion and the individual in ancient Rome / Jörg Rüpke. Other titles: Cornell studies in classical philology. Townsend lectures Description: Ithaca ; London : Cornell University Press, 2016. | Series: Townsend lectures/Cornell studies in classical philology | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016017486 | ISBN 9781501704703 (cloth : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Religion—Social aspects—Rome. | Rome—Religion. | Experience (Religion)—History. Classification: LCC BL803 .R84 2016 | DDC 292.07—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016017486 Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials include vegetable-based, low-VOC inks and acid-free papers that are recycled, totally chlorine-free, or partly composed of nonwood fibers. For further information, visit our website at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu. Cloth printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Cover illustration: Silvanus relief. Roman deity of the woods and fields. Photo credit: bpk, Berlin/Antikensammlung, Staatliche Museen/Ingrid Geske/Art Resource, NY.
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